tek's rating: ½

Minions (PG)
IMDb; Rotten Tomatoes; TV Tropes; Universal; Wikia; Wikipedia
streaming sites: Amazon; Google Play; iTunes; Movies Anywhere; Vudu; YouTube

This came out in 2015, but I didn't see it until 2021. It's a prequel to the Despicable Me movies. The movie is narrated by Geoffrey Rush. It begins with the minions first evolving and crawling out of the ocean, at which point they already know their purpose in life is to serve villains. They start with a T-Rex, but end up getting it killed. We see a few other villains they do a poor job of serving over the years, until finally they give up and go into hiding in an ice cave, where they build their own civilization. Unfortunately, they can't escape the deep-seated drive to serve, and become listless. Eventually (in 1968), one minion, Kevin, decides to go out into the world to find a new villain for all of them to serve. He's accompanied by Stuart and Bob. One night on TV they hear about a secret convention of villains being held in Orlando, and they hitch a ride with a family of bank robbers, the Nelsons, Walter (Michael Keaton), Madge (Allison Janney), and their two kids, Walter Jr. and Tina (Katy Mixon). Once at the con, the minions manage to win a competition to become the henchmen of a supervillain named Scarlet Overkill (Sandra Bullock), and her inventor husband, Herb (Jon Hamm). Scarlet wants the minions to steal the crown of Queen Elizabeth II (Jennifer Saunders). And they call the other minions, telling them to come to England.

Beyond that, I don't want to spoil any of the plot, but I'll say that I found the movie fairly amusing and fun, but not quite as good as the Despicable Me movies. But there was lots of good music. Also, there's a fun post-credits scene. And there will be a sequel, "Minions: The Rise of Gru", which I look forward to.


CGI index
Despicable Me / Minions franchise
Fandom; TV Tropes; Wikipedia

main series: Despicable Me * Despicable Me 2 * Despicable Me 3
short films
spinoff series: Minions * Minions: The Rise of Gru (2022)