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'Minions': Yellow rogues back in the limelight
The mischievous little yellow creatures are back with their hilarious antics in new flick Minions, a spin-off and prequel to the Despicable Me animation franchise
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The mischievous little yellow creatures are back with their hilarious antics in new flick Minions, a spin-off and prequel to the Despicable Me animation franchise.
Long before the minions served super villain Gru, antihero of the franchise, they began their search for the most dreadful master.
Ever since evolving from single-celled yellow organisms into minions, the creatures have worked for the greatest villain of the time. However, it's never long before they accidentally get their masters into trouble.
Their first masters and victims are T-Rex and cavemen. Later on, they unintentionally drop a pyramid on the great ruler of ancient Egypt and turn Dracula to dust. After being dismissed by Napoleon, the minions start a new life in an ice cave in Antarctica.
They spend a joyous while singing, dancing and playing sports in their sanctuary. But eventually, without someone to serve, the minions fall into deep depression.
In a hope to save all of minionkind from annihilation, the adventurous Kevin ' alongside teenage rebel Stuart and cute little Bob ' tour the globe to find a new evil boss.
In 1968, the unlikely heroes arrive in the US and meet their next potential master ' Scarlett Overkill (voiced by Oscar winning actress Sandra Bullock), a fashionable woman with lethal weapons hidden in her dresses.
At VillainCon, the world's biggest gathering of bad guys, in Orlando, the minions unexpectedly outshine a host of skilled criminals and a sumo in a contest to become Scarlett's henchmen.
The world's first female supervillain brings them to London for her ultimate mission of stealing the crown of Queen Elizabeth II (whose voice is gleefully mimicked by Jennifer Saunders).
Armed with gadgets from Herb Overkill (Jon Hamm), Scarlett's inventor husband, the three minions sneak into the heavily guarded kingdom to obtain the crown and realize their mistress' childhood dream of becoming a princess.
It is delightful to meet the minions again after Despicable Me (2010) and Despicable Me 2 (2013). As in the other two movies, the minions are naive, cute and hilarious creatures whose good intentions often go wrong.
Penned by Brian Lynch, the movie puts Gru's cute little sidekicks into the limelight with their pranks and confusing yet lovable gibberish. Some jokes are amusing, but others fall flat.
Most of the minions are two-dimensional, as it were, but Lynch adds personalities to the central trio. One-eyed Stuart is an aspiring rock star and little Bob is always attached to his teddy bear.
The latter, whose character partly resembles a five-year-old, delivers one of the most comical scenes when he unintentionally unseats the Queen from her throne and gives an indecipherable speech as the new king.
The film travels from the Stone Age through the late 1960s, translated beautifully by directors Pierre Coffin and Kyle Balda into animation.
They carefully evoke the 60s' New York City and London with hit songs from the era, such as Jimi Hendrix's 'Foxy Lady' and KC & the Sunshine Band's 'Keep It Comin' Love'.
Further elevating the 60s ambience are Scarlett's fabulous bouffant hair and chic dresses and a scene of the minions interrupting the Beatles' famed walk across Abbey Road.
Coffin, who also voiced Kevin, Stuart, Bob and the rest of minions, continues to sprinkle Indonesian words into the minions' speech. Coffin, the son of noted Indonesian novelist Nh. Dini, incorporates kemari (come here) and terima kasih (thank you) into the characters' gibberish.
Voiced by Bullock, Scarlett Overkill is a stunning villain. She is an ill-tempered egomaniac with a wicked agenda, but one can't help but sympathize with her lonely, sad childhood that shaped her into a crown-obsessed villain.
In spite of the fabulousness of Scarlett, it appears that only Gru and his three little girls can bring the best out of the minions. Gru's goofiness and the minions' zealousness are a perfect match. The film lacks the cute and heart-warming moments offered by Gru and his adopted girls, Margo, Edith and Agnes.
Despite missing Gru and the girls, Minions is still a whole lot of fun. The film induces laughter with the minions' antics and squeaking mumbles and hijinks. Minions is an amusing animation, and fanatics of the yellow, cylindrical creatures will not want to miss the movie.
' Photos courtesy of Universal Pictures
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Minions
(Universal Pictures, 91 minutes)
Directed by Pierre Coffin and Kyle Balda
Cast: Pierre Coffin, Sandra Bullock, Jon Hamm, Michael Keaton, Allison Janney, Steve Coogan, Geoffrey Rush
