Minions
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(PG) ***
Director: Pierre Coffin & Kyle Balda.
Cast: (voices of) Pierre Coffin, Sandra Bullock, Jon Hamm, Michael Keaton, Allison Janney, Steve Coogan, Geoffrey Rush, Jennifer Saunders.
DESPICABLE Me, and to a lesser extent its sequel, offered an interesting insight into the life of a supervillain.
Steve Carell was great as Gru, and his three adopted kids were cute, but the real scene-stealers were his minions - a bunch of bespectacled yellow critters fond of slapstick humour, fart jokes and bananas.
If you were expecting this spin-off to be an interesting insight into the life of a henchman, you'll be disappointed (but wouldn't that be a great movie?).
However if you're looking for slapstick humour, fart jokes, and, well, bananas, then the Minions movie will be right up your alley.
The strangely rambling plot follows the millenia-old minions through history, moving from one big bad boss to the next as the years tick by.
But after a falling out with Napoleon and the French army, the minions go into exile, only to discover they really miss being the underlings of evil-doers.
Desperate to rescue their species from depression, three of their kind - Stuart, Kevin and Bob - head out into the world to find a new super villain to serve.
This leads them to Scarlet Overkill (Bullock) - the world's foremost baddie and whose main aim is to be the Queen of England.
There's nothing deep or thought-provoking or heartfelt about Minions. Whereas Despicable Me had a novel hook and some emotional depth to go with its sense of humour, this prequel is seriously lacking in the head and the heart departments.
But it works on a purely childish level for the very young thanks to its barrage of sight gags, pratfalls and its brightly coloured gibberish-spouting stars.
Beyond that there's not much else going on. Bullock's voicework is great, as is Coffin's as the many minions, but this is largely a pleasant-enough 90 minutes that while regularly amusing is mostly forgettable.
There are some concessions on top of the silliness for the parents who have to accompany their kids to the cinema.
The movie's late '60s setting means there are enough references to keep the grown-ups amused, plus the soundtrack is a ripper, filled with The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, The Turtles, Donovan, Jimi Hendrix and more.
Having just seen the amazing work of Pixar on Inside Out, the hollow fun of Illumination Entertainment's Minions feels like a real step-down.
But on its own and to the right audience - aged 10 and under most likely - there's nothing particularly wrong with the film.
It's more that there's nothing exceptionally right about it either.