Minions
Who can hate the Minions? The stole the show in Despicable Me and Despicable Me 2 and they continue with their antics in their own movie that chronicles how they came to be involved with the evil villain named Gru.
This was a difficult one to watch. No, I don't mean it was horrible. I mean that it was the first regularly screened movie that my wife and I attended with our two boys. I say "regularly screened" because we have seen the movie Home with the boys, but it was at a special screening for kids with autism. This meant that there were no previews, the lights were only slightly dimmed, and the sound was turned down to an acceptable level. This is why Minions was difficult to watch. We ended up leaving after the first 30 minutes. It was too much for our boys. Unfortunately the majority of the first 30 minutes was featured in trailers and previews that I have already seen be for stepping into the theater.
So how can I review this film? Don't worry.
I really don't like seeing half of a movie. If I only see half of a movie, this means that I have no desire to see the rest and that the plot resolution and story are too insignificant to waste my time on. For the reason you will never see a review of Mean Girls from me. After the first 30 minute preview that I had, I wanted to see where the Minion movie was going, but I was not very pleased to spend another $30 to watch it.
As luck would have it, my wife and I found ourselves available to go out and watch a movie without our kids. We opted to watch the movie that we started and headed back to see Minions. This is where my review really starts. It took a while, but my back-story was necessary.
I won't be able to sugar-coat this one, I didn't like this movie. My reasoning is much more psychological than you might think; but before I tear this one down, let me focus on the positive.
The Minions themselves are adorable and during the film you want them to succeed. The smallest and most childlike of the Minions is Bob. Bob is lovable because he is sweet, innocent and carries around a little teddy bear. He is the one Minion that I was cheering for during the film. I found the other Minions to be little more than comic relief. Bob helped me through this movie.
What also helped me through this movie was the soundtrack and setting. The year is 1968, and the place is England. For those who know me, may know that I have an huge fan of rock and roll music from the 1960's. My favourite bands of that era include The Beatle, The Who, and The Kinks. All three of these bands have songs on the soundtrack to the movie. I really, really liked the setting of Minions, but that was the only saving grace.
Minions was not what I thought it would be. I thought the film would show the progression of the minions as they went from bad guy to bad guy throughout the decades. This happened in the first 20 minutes of the film, but then the minions turned into the good guys. THEY AREN'T SUPPOSED TO BE THE GOOD GUYS!! We were introduced to the minions as Gru's workers in Despicable Me. They were not good guys at that point. The change in direction for the minions came when (SPOILER ALERT) Gru adopts the three girls and becomes their father instead of an evil genius. So I feel that this movie was marketed and created as a prequel to Despicable Me, but ended up being a re-hashed version of the same movie. I was not amused.
Now, I know that this is a children's film. I know that, but I have come to expect more from animated films than re-telling of the predeceasing film.
Not impressed.
2/5 Stanley Cups - Mostly for the music and setting.
Format:Local Cineplex theater.
Viewing Period: Over a week in two viewings.
Inspired me to: Gouge my eyes out.SPOILER!!!!
I wanted to point out one last thing that annoyed me. The film was advertised as occurring 42 BG (before Gru). This would mean that the minions met Gru in 2010. This film depicts the minions meeting Gru in 1968, so the film doesn't even follow it's own rules. I am so disappointed. Give me a Pixar movie any day.
