Ever since a dear friend of mine forced me into watching the beautiful Finding Nemo and introduced me to this beloved genre, I don’t think I’ve had occasion to say that I saw a bad animation movie. Having seen Minions today, sadly I can’t say that any longer.
Despicable Me had offered a glimpse of what the minions could do. Much like the Penguins of Madagascar they became the center of attraction even though they were just a side act. They were smart, funny, goofy, adorable and unpredictable all at the same time and you wished there was more of them. However, that was when they were intelligently written, within a smart plot context and had some meaning in what they portrayed. When you replace the same with a bad sense of humor, lazy writing, unnecessary screen time and just a blatant disregard for the audience, you end up with this ‘despicably bad’ second act of Minions.
These Minions are not remotely funny. They are slapstick, rely on their unintelligible language and obsession with banana to bring the laughs and spin a by the minute even cornier yarn to tell what can’t even be called a story. Its supposed to be a prequel but apart from the start and the end – there’s no hint of any story as such. Seriously, except for the quality of animation itself, everything is to blame here. You cringe, groan inwardly in desperation, plead for it to end and then when all is lost, even shout out loud in frustration. The first 10 minutes and maybe some of the final act is practically the most you’ll laugh in the entire runtime.
It pains me to write such a scathing review for what I thought was one of the smartest character franchises brought forward by animation in recent times. Complete with their own language and countless intelligent memes doing the rounds, Minions should’ve truly been a force to reckon with. Nobody expected a deep, moving and touching story. All you hoped for was intelligent humor, situational comedy – minions doing what they supposedly do best. Instead, these minions (and there are only 3 of them for the most part) are tired, boring and simply unacceptable. If anything, it’s the cultural references to the 60s New York, England and related events that catch your attention.
A truly great villain not unlike Gru himself could’ve really spiced things up – but however great Sandra Bullock is as an actress – Scarlet Overkill is exactly that – overkill. She doesn’t make sense most of the time and her character itself goes all over the place. Even the end-credits don’t provide any respite and there are no laughs to be had – no point sticking around for them
I still think the Minions franchise has potential. Only, the next one needs to be given deep thought, be truly funny and show the Minions in better light – they definitely deserve better
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