Minions

• Directed by Pierre Coffin and Kyle Balda
• June 11, 2015 (Odeon Leicester Square) / July 10, 2015 (US)

Voice Cast

• Stuart, Kevin, and Bob (and all the other Minions)-Pierre Coffin
• Scarlet Overkill-Sandra Bullock
• Herb Overkill-Jon Hamm
• Walter Nelson-Michael Keaton
• Madge Nelson-Allison Janney
• Tina Nelson-Katy Mixon
• Walter Nelson Jr., VNC announcer-Michael Beattie
• Tower Guard, Professor Flux-Steve Coogan
• Queen Elizabeth II-Jennifer Saunders
• Gru-Steve Carell
• Dumo-Hiroyuki Sanada
• Fabrice-Dave Rosenbaum
• Narrator-Geoffrey Rush

Stuart, Kevin, and Bob in an effort to find a new villain to serve are recruited by the world’s first female supervillain Scarlet Overkill.

I’m not a big fan of supporting characters get getting tossed in the spotlight. Not every supporting character has enough to them to be the center of attention in a series or film. It often changes too much about what made them endearing to the viewer which conversely removes what justified the project. In this case though the characters remain largely the same. And as a one-off film and origin story it’s not bad.

I love how the idea of a supervillain is just this thing everybody on Earth lives with. It’s just a job or profession that you take up and try to be good at like it would be with an accountant or anything else really. And that as always drives home the hilarity.

Scarlet Overkill is just so much fun as a villain. She is evil and entertainingly charming. Bullock was just having fun here and despite my confusion on why celebrities are used for animated features, just killed it in the part. The way she voices the character you could get told to “F**k off” and feel it was a compliment.

Minions is in part in my opinion an entertaining send up of the 60s as well as the superspy film. There are lava guns and other such items. They invert expectations when it comes to the Queen of England of make her at least by the time she gets dethroned a bit of a hard drinking and tough woman. Seriously. There’s a moment where you’re going “WTF?!” and then you’re laughing at the absurdity of it all. Who would picture the Queen downing a pint or three?

They make the British comically British. They go all in on the stereotypes in a very comical. Some may find some of the humor inappropriate (there is a pee joke). The thing is they aim to make you laugh in this movie. They set out to entertain with a good movie.

Between the music and the visuals they nicely set you in the era but do not beat you over the head. Establishing a time period is a delicate act. Often it is done to the point of overkill. Here they deftly bring it to just the correct level.

Most importantly despite being connected to another film this movie is surprisingly accessible to a casual viewer. You don’t have to have seen the Despicable Me films to enjoy this movie. It helps but is not a necessity. References to other films are fine but connection to the point of having to watch is annoying. They avoid needing to know much about the others to enjoy this.

Minions is a surprisingly good origin story that features supporting characters in a primary role. It’s funny and beautiful to look at and just downright entertaining. This is something you should check out!