Minion Overkill

Rating: 6/10 (10 July 2015)

The first two Despicable Me films were such a surprise in both their humor and their heart. Minions looked to be one of the most entertaining films of the summer as it focused on everyone's favorite characters from the Despicable Me films. Unfortunately we were left with a mildly entertaining but overall forgettable film. But I also understand that as a 21 year old male, I'm not necessarily the target audience and so I can see the appeal that all the young kids and families will have. But I bought into all the trailers and was really excited to see the movie, it just turned out to be a big disappointment from my high expectations.
The worst part about giving this film a 6.2 is that the entire movie is pretty much shown in all the trailers. All of the great jokes, some of which I still laughed at in the film, were shown in the various 3 min long trailers we saw. I really do feel like if I would have stayed away from all the trailers I would have enjoyed the film a ton more and laughed hysterically like a lot of people did in my theater. But trailers aren't supposed to do that. It shouldn't be that we are forced to stay away from the teasers and clips so that we aren't spoiled for the film. Trailers are released to sell the movie, not spoil the movie. The various voice talent does a fine job but it was nothing memorable like Steve Carell's Gru. Sandra Bullock plays the main villain, Scarlett Overkill, but she isn't given a whole lot to do and in fact, the film just doesn't have much substance at all. Yes, it is still funny and entertaining to watch the Minions run around in madness, but there was something to be said about the story around the humans in the Despicable Me films. Minions were great in doses, but they were really missing that heart from the family storyline.
So with still quite a few laugh out loud moments, but no gut-busters, Minions failed to capture the magic madness that the other films did. But it is a fun time in the theaters with plenty of short funny scenes. It's just that at feature length, the film doesn't hit on all the levels that the trailers promised. It's more of just a shut your brain off kind of kids comedy, and I expected more.
+Creative gags
+Villain-con
+Voice cast does what they can
-Trailers give way too much away
-Not much substance
6.2/10