Minions Review

Minions. They're everywhere. They started out as little side-characters in the adorable and hilarious Despicable Me movie and now they've evolved into quite the phenomenon. Most of Despicable Me 2 was Minion gags. Social media is full of Minion memes. There's quite a lot of video shorts with the Minions. They're everywhere! In fact, they became so popular that Illumination wisely took advantage of them and gave them their own movie. Quite honestly, this is a movie that I almost don't need to review. You know how you feel about the Minions. If you are part of the group that was abhorred by the idea of a Minions movie because you either are really annoyed by the Minions or don't think that a movie full of Minion gags would be any fun, then this isn't your movie. Don't see it. You won't enjoy it. And I think both you and I have known that since this movie was announced. However, if you are like me and you liked the idea of a 90-minute movie stuffed full of Minion gags, then you need to see this because it's quite the blast from start to finish. And I think both you and I have known that it would be since this movie was announced. Get my vibe? I could finish my review there, but of course I will carry on.

One thing that I really appreciated about this movie was the advertising. It spoils nothing. Not that it really matters in this instance. I could tell you the whole plot of the movie and it wouldn't ruin your experience one bit because the point of this is to go laugh at the Minions. Nevertheless, we know from the trailers that Minions have been around since the dawn of time. They find purpose in serving the biggest and baddest villain around, but they have a hard time sticking with one villain because they keep messing things up and killing these villains. So at one point in time, they have no master to serve and they lose all purpose until one Minion named Kevin decides that he's going to go find a new master to serve. He takes Stuart and Bob with him and the three of them travel to the United States where they discover a Villain Con in Orlando, Florida where they learn of Scarlet Overkill. That's all revealed in the trailer. And that's only like the first 20 minutes of this movie. There's a completely new adventure with the Minions and Scarlet Overkill that's not even talked about or mentioned in any of the advertising and I really appreciated that. Just goes to prove that you don't need to divulge your whole movie to have a successful advertising campaign. With that in mind, I'm going to respect this advertising campaign and not divulge anything else about the plot.

There is one major question that a lot of people have about this movie that I do want to discuss. Many people would agree that the Minions made for one heck of a good side dish in the Despicable Me movies. But can they hold their own as the main entree? In my opinion they definitely can. I really enjoyed this whole adventure that they went on. I thought it was a lot of fun. That said, I will admit that this doesn't quite have the magic of the Despicable Me movies, specifically the first one. With no Gru or no girls, this isn't at quite the same level. Gru is a really great character that has a lot of depth to him. The girls are all really adorable and hilarious. There's also a lot of emotion that comes with them and their relationship with Gru. Add in the Minions along with them and you have a formula for an excellent animated movie. In fact, I would safely call Despicable Me an animated classic. I laugh hysterically and am deeply moved every time I watch that movie. No, Despicable Me 2 didn't quite have the magic of Despicable Me either, but having all pieces to this formula still made for an excellent movie.

So no, without Gru and the girls, this isn't quite the same. The emotion of the Despicable Me movies isn't there. But this is exactly what you would expect. 90 minutes of Minion gags. Since I love the Minions and I find these Minion gags really funny, I was laughing pretty hard throughout. If you like the Minion gags as well, this is a movie that you need to go see. Especially if you have kids that love the Minions. They'll be laughing at least twice as hard as you. I guarantee it. And if you don't like the Minions, but your kids do, then I'd highly recommend you go suck it up and earn yourself some parent points by taking your kids to this because they will absolutely love it. There is a little bit of adult-themed humor thrown in there that I questioned a bit, but most of that will go right over the kids' heads. I suppose something about Minion nudity is more funny than anything. But that's nothing new as it also existed in the other movies. They just take it a little bit further here. But overall, I had a lot of fun with this movie. It's not as good as the Despicable Me movies and it won't become an animated classic. But it's just a lot of fun. I'll give Minions an 8/10.

P.S.- Make sure you stay for all of the credits. There are mid-credit scenes as well as a hilarious post-credits scene