Three’s Company
Film: Minions
Voices of: Sandra Bullock, Jennifer
Saunders, Pierre Coffin
Directed by: Kyle Balda, Pierre
Coffin
Duration: 1 hr 35 mins
Rating: * * * 1 / 2
Co-director Pierre Coffin gave us
the two eminently likable films, Despicable Me I and II and Minions is a spin
off of those two films involving characters that we were introduced to earlier.
It may not have the depth and emotions of its predecessors, but as far as the
entertainment quotient is concerned the Minions score highly, once again.
If the X-Men can have an origins
story then so can the Minions. We are told about how they evolved over a period
of time, right from the dinosaurs, cavemen to modern day human beings. But
they’ve always had a need for a ‘boss’ and evil one, to guide them. In the late
60’s, 1968 to be precise three Minions led by Kevin along with Bob and Stuart
are on the look out for a new leader- they land in New York and head straight
for Orlando where all the evil characters from around the world have gathered.
Scarlett Overkill (Voice of Sandra Bullock) an evil super woman is the most
sought after and with a quirk of fate, they become her henchmen.
It turns out, she is more evil than
they envisaged and she gives them an assignment of stealing the crown of the
Queen of England. That is quite an adventurous task that they have on their
hand leading to a lot of fun moments.
Minions works because there is enough slapstick comedy to entertain
the kids and lots of cultural references to keep the adults amused. The
emotions maybe a little less but the laughs are few more. The central
characters help the film sail through, they are clumsy and silly but in a smart
way. The film makers have taken a huge risk with the fact that the Minions
speak only a few English words (Banana and Boss being the most distinct) the
rest sounds like mumbling but yet they manage to pull it off. The pace rarely
slackens, the gags are non stop and there are references to Dracula, Napolean
and even the Beatles crossing Abbey Road .
The quality of animation in most
films has reached a certain standard now and there is it difficult for a film
to stand out on that count. But as Inside Out proved a couple of weeks back,
superior story telling is making a comeback of sorts in animation films. All in
all, Minions is thoroughly enjoyable venture.
Published in The Navhind Times on 12th July 2015
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