My wife and I saw Minions this weekend and we were both a little disappointed.
We both liked the first two movies, but the series is suffering from sequelitis where each new movie is a little worse than the one before.
Part of that problem is honestly a stronger focus on the minions with each new movie.
They’re good as sidekick characters, but a mute slapstick comedic lead hasn’t worked since Buster Keaton. People just expect more out of their movies now.
The plot of the movie is summed up pretty well in the trailers if you’ve seen those. Three minions try to find a villain to serve. They find Scarlet Overkill who tells them to steal the Queen of England’s crown. Hijinks ensue and Scarlet Overkill ends up wanting to kill the minions.
The trailer used most of the funnier bits of the movie in it, so there weren’t many surprises left to see.
The best part that was left out of the trailers was the Nelson family, a group of bankrobber fans of Scarlet Overkill.
They’re just a happy loving family that also happens to rob banks and idolize super villains.
Back to the general point, why didn’t the movie work for me? Because none of the characters were interesting (besides the Nelsons).
The minions are cute and funny, but they don’t speak. They literally cannot deliver punchlines to jokes.
There are basically only two other characters in the movie besides the minions, Scarlet Overkill and her dopey husband, Herb.
Scarlet is the embodiment of rage. She rages really well and Sandra Bullock was a great cast to play that character, but is she funny? NOPE! I don’t go to the movies to see people get mad over petty things. I don’t got anywhere for that sort of thing.
And Herb… He’s newspaper comic level funny. I can literally read the jokes he does every single day in the comics section. It’s just weak stuff.
My wife and I are fans of the series, so we’d be the most likely group of people to enjoy this movie, but we just didn’t. I wouldn’t recommend it to other adults who liked the first two Despicable Me movies. Maybe for kids, but not adults.
Another thing my wife and I had heard the movie was sexist before going to it. Gotta say, that was entirely wrong.
Minions has the same problem every other movie has with a lack of female characters. There’s Scarlet and the Queen. That’s it.
The Queen is barely present, so most of the sexist accusations would have to revolve around Scarlet’s portrayal or just the general absence of female characters. Since nearly every movie is missing female characters I assume what we’d heard was directed towards how Scarlet was portrayed.
And it just wasn’t sexist. She’s a powerful woman with a husband who is the “power behind the throne.” Basic role reversal already.
At one point she’s getting put into a corset-type dress which one could claim is sexist, until the dress turns into a giant rocket 2 minutes later in the movie.
You could also claim her desire to be pretty was imposing society’s values of what women should be, but that just feels like a stretch.
The final issue might be Scarlet’s life long dream to be Queen of England. You could see that as her wanting to be a princess or you could see it as her wanting to be the ruler of a country.
The sexism just wasn’t there (besides the no female characters thing).
Anyways, most of the people who read this blog are adults, so I recommend that you don’t see this movie. Even if you are a fan of Despicable Me. Just watch the trailer again. It’s pretty much the same and will save you a lot of time and money.
-GoCorral
Nerve is, dare I say it, a summer blockbuster.
