Wednesday, July 15, 2015

MINIONS MOVIE REVIEW


While I was watching Minions a massive storm blew through my town.  It knocked down trees and power lines, overturned vehicles, and killed the power in the theater, which was a first for me.  The screen went blank about twenty minutes from the end of the movie.  It was off ten or fifteen minutes, then they got everything going again and they started the movie back where it was when it went off.  Thanks to a conscientious Malco staff, I didn’t miss anything so it shouldn’t affect my ability to review it.  It was an interesting experience though. 
 

                Minions, if you don’t already know, is basically an origin story about the little yellow guys from the Despicable Me franchise.  It turns out minions have actually been on earth longer than humans and have always been looking for the most evil (or despicable) master to serve.  At some point in the 1960’s the minions, frustrated after years of not being able to find a master, chose three (Kevin, Stuart, and Bob) to go out and find an evil leader. 

                The biggest problem with this film is the same thing that makes it good; the minions themselves.  Sure, they are funny. Sure, they are cute.  But an hour and a half of them is a little much.   There is not a human character introduced in the whole first act.  The minion language was really starting to wear on me by that time.  When we finally get human characters, they all turn out to be flat and don’t really add anything to the film.  The story is generic and lacks focus.  It’s hard to get invested in anything that is going on. 
 

                I really enjoyed the 60’s pop culture references in the movie. The soundtrack was really good and fun.  These things were the best parts of the movie to me.  There was one scene in particular involving The Beatles that I really enjoyed. 

                The major saving grace for this movie is that it is indeed funny.  Most of the jokes work and the minions themselves are still loveable, it’s just that their particular brand of humor gets a little repetitive after a while.  There was nothing in the movie that was just laugh-out-loud hysterical but I don’t remember any jokes that fell absolutely flat either.  There were a couple of jokes that were arguably inappropriate for a movie clearly aimed at young kids. 
 

                This is not a very long review because there is not a lot I can say about this film.  It is what it is.  It succeeds at what it sets out to do.  Kids are going to absolutely love it.  It will make tons of money for that reason alone.  Adults may enjoy it for a while but ultimately it will get repetitive and silly.  I didn’t hate the movie by any stretch of the imagination but it wasn’t anywhere near as good as I had hoped it would be.  Watch Inside Out instead.  The Movie Man gives it 3 out of 5 stars. 
 
Please click the link and give my Facebook page a like.  https://www.facebook.com/reviewsmovieman?ref=aymt_homepage_panel

No comments:

Post a Comment