![]() Kevin is joined by the adolescent, rebellious Stuart, whose musical sensibilities will be right at home when they land in late 1960s New York and eager-beaver “little brother” Bob, an adorable, childlike soul who immediately bonds with an equally tiny teddy bear. Enter the enterprising Kevin, a big-brother type who decides to return to the outside world, in order to find a suitably malevolent boss and once again grant them purpose. But acolytes cannot survive on their own, and despair threatens to overwhelm them. Unable to find a master who can survive their peculiar brand of intense devotion, the disillusioned Minions build their own civilization deep in an Antarctic cave. Initial imprintings on the likes of Tyrannosaurus rex and brutish Homo sapiens prove disastrous, as do later efforts - Minions apparently being immortal - with Dracula and Napoleon. Since the Minions’ raison d’être is to serve the ultimate evil overlord - as explained by narrator Geoffrey Rush, who frequently inserts droll commentary - Lynch’s saga takes us back to the dawn of time, and the single-celled yellow organisms that eventually evolve and emerge from the ocean. Co-directors Pierre Coffin and Kyle Balda keep things moving at a lively clip, with editor Claire Dodgson also ensuring that this 91-minute film doesn’t overstay its welcome.Įverything is assembled with great care and obvious love even the soundtrack is terrific, making perfect use of pop classics such as “Happy Together,” “You Really Got Me” and - of course - “Mellow Yellow.” On top of which, fans who’ve turned the YouTube video of the Minions’ “Banana Song” into a multi-million-view sensation will fall over laughing here, when they similarly butcher “We Wish You a Merry Christmas” and the theme to TV’s “The Monkees.” The results are cute, hilarious and wisely episodic: mini-escapades shrewdly stitched together in a manner that feels like a long single storyline. In this case, Brian Lynch - who had a hand in 2011’s droll “Puss in Boots” (another rare spin-off success) - has delivered a story that’s both clever and witty, granting these well-intentioned but disaster-prone subordinates both an origin story and their first chaotic adventure within the ranks of would-be super-villains. It always comes down to the same basic element: the script. Why, then, have the Minions broken the curse? And let’s just try to pretend that Halle Berry’s toothless turn as “Catwoman” never happened. Dwayne Johnson’s Scorpion King may have set up the action in “The Mummy Returns,” but he couldn’t manage the heavy lifting in his own film, a year later. Steve Carell’s Evan Baxter was hilarious, supporting Jim Carrey, Morgan Freeman, Jennifer Aniston and Nora Dunn in “Bruce Almighty.” On his own, in the follow-up “Evan Almighty” … not so much. You simply can’t remove one of those pieces, toss it into an under-written spin-off, and expect good results. A successful ensemble character dynamic is as fragile as a soufflé: Each element is essential, creating a whole that is, to everybody’s delight, greater than the sum of its talented parts. The reason is obvious, although it seems to elude studio execs. In five short years, the Twinkie-hued, overalled lab subordinates in “Despicable Me” have gone from screwball second bananas to a genuine world-wide phenomenon … and they more than hold their own, in the absolutely delightful “Minions.” Thrusting supporting players into their own starring vehicle rarely succeeds. ![]() Rating: PG, and too harshly, for cartoon action and occasional rude humorīeloved blobby lackeys score in their own wacky adventure ![]() Starring (voices): Sandra Bullock, Jon Hamm, Michael Keaton, Allison Janney, Jennifer Saunders, Geoffrey Rush, Steve Coogan and Pierre Coffin
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