Obnoxious and Boring

Rating: 3/10 (17 July 2015)

Are we in the midst of a terrible new trend? In 2014, Penguins of Madagascar provided a funny, if generic, spin-off of the popular Madagascar films, which focused on the comic relief side-penguins. This year, there's Minions, which is similar to Penguins on the surface, but with none of the decent humor or narrative sense. It could've been mindlessly entertaining, but full of clichéd and unfunny jokes, it's instead annoyingly tedious. It's honestly astonishing how something so obnoxious can also be so boring, and feel like it would never end. The minions from Despicable Me are inarguably the best aspect of the uber-popular franchise. However, sometimes a decent side-item isn't enough to replace an entire meal. There's not a single character to invest in here, as we barely get to know the new characters, and the minions have no discernible, individual personalities. Not that these things are absolute necessities for kids entertainment; just provide more than a dull story and played-out comedy to keep people from focusing on the lack of logic anywhere (i.e. why is no one in this very real 1960s setting wondering who these little yellow dudes are?). Even the jokes and surprises failed as they were forced on us through the ever-ubiquitous marketing campaign. Honestly, none of this really matters; if you're a parent, you will be (or already were) inevitably dragged to this. That's a shame, since I think kids and families deserve better than clichéd story beats, bright colors, 3D tricks, and the basest of humor (farts, pain, underwear). For a fully entertaining family-movie night, just give Inside Out a (second) look.