Minions

Grade: C

There are exceptions, of course, but lately I’ve been finding that if a movie boasts a terrific soundtrack, chances are it’s trying to compensate for something. Minions has an impressive collection of songs. As another reviewer observed, the royalties must have cost a fortune. I found the music to be the best part, and the rest to be otherwise hollow and uninteresting. Apparently a prequel to the Despicable Me films, which went unseen by me, this film is about the early journey of a large group of little yellow creatures that look like Dots. I’m talking about the candy. Have you ever had Dots? I love Dots. Anyway, these minions’ language is a weird hybrid of broken English, broken Spanish, and 90% gibberish. They are on a quest to find a “good” villain to work for. Three of them split off from the group, and they are so interchangeable and fail to make much of an impression, that I struggle to remember their names even just a couple of hours after seeing this. The jokes all seem to be riffs on the same theme: “what are these little yellow things going to misunderstand next?” If you have children, or nerves of steel, there is some “bonus” material happening during and after the end credits.

Were the minions cute? Sometimes. Did I chuckle? Occasionally. Ultimately, did I care about any of this? No. But boy, the songs in it sure are wonderful.

Grade: C