Who could have foreseen the incredible impact and world domination of those pesky little yellow multi-lingual Minions? Are they aliens? Mutants? Just yellow? Who the hell really knows but one thing we can be sure of is they are everywhere. Literally everywhere. Even Steve Carell, the supposed star of the franchise, had a hard time buying into the concept of the Minions when he was first pitched Despicable Me and yet, twelve years since they debuted, here we are. It’s their world and we are just living in it. Three films and $3billion later, though, and are we starting to see the first signs of tiredness in a franchise that won’t be going away anytime soon? Perhaps.
Two years on from its initial scheduled release – llumination‘s offices and staff were badly affected by the pandemic, as well as the cautious reopening of cinemas since early 2021 – was it worth the wait? Well, if you are between the ages of 1-12, absolutely, but for the rest of us the schtick of it all is showing the first signs of wear. Not that this one doesn’t have its charm for older audiences but five films in (with work on Despicable Me 4 well underway), the initial allure of the vaudevillian, slapstick, immature blend of humour synonymous with the series is, for the first time, wearing a little thin.
That’s not to say there isn’t laughs in this one – in fact, a sequence involving the Minions trying to fly a plane is absolutely hysterical – but perhaps the whole conceit and the stories surround them have ran their course and are slowly beginning to run out of truly fresh ideas. Creator Pierre Coffin, back as the multiple voices of the Minions, has taken a little step back from the creative side of the series and perhaps that is partly to blame for the first signs of tiredness, but he is on top form as ever behind the mic, as of course is Steve Carell, reaching his career apex playing a 11-year-old here but there’s an argument to be made that we really didn’t need Gru at all here: in the the previous film, the fresh energy brought by Sandra Bullock, Michael Keaton and others was most welcome and while many always associate the big bad with his yellow counterparts, perhaps this would have worked better as the third film, or indeed not at all.
Still, for those of the right age, this is another hoot and a half and while adults won’t get the same subversive brilliance here, even they won’t keep a straight face at the aforementioned aeronautical scene. We are still laughing now.
★★★
Animation, Adventure | 2022, USA | U | 1st July 2022 (UK) | Cinema | Universal Pictures | Dir.Kyle Balda | Steve Carell, Pierre Coffin, Russell Brand, Taraji P. Henson, Alan Arkin, Michelle Yeoh, Julie Andrews
