MINIONS
US, 2015, 91 minutes, Colour.
Voices of: Sandra Bullock, Jon Hamm, Michael Keaton, Alison Janney, Steve Coogan, Jennifer Saunders, Geoffrey Rush, Steve Carell, Pierre Coffin.
Directed by Kyle Balda, Pierre Coffin.
Everything that you didn’t know that you would need to know, and it didn’t occur to you to ask, about Minions.
Children’s audiences could tell you that the minions were those funny little yellow creatures, with names like Kevin and Steve, some with one eye, some with two, with little mouths that were prone to be uttering gibberish in excited tones, communicating in their own language which had dashes of words of English, Spanish, French and who knows what other languages! They made a great impact in Despicable Me and enjoyed their comeback in Despicable Me 2. And here they are again, all courtesy of Pierre Coffin, who codirected the film, co-wrote the film and provides all those conversations which we do understand despite the fact of scarcely recognising a word.
It may not have occurred to us to wonder where the Minions came from but the prologue to the film gives us the answer. They are a result of evolution, from little specks to fully grown (well that is, perhaps, an exaggeration so small are they), timid little community out of which emerged Kevin, a natural-evolved leader, who wants to take the Minions out of their comfort zone. He doesn’t get many volunteers, mainly Stuart and, then, little Bob.
We know from the earlier films that they have a propensity for seeking out villains, and a natural evil-bent, that drew them to the character Gru. But how did this instinct develop? We have a very funny, collage of their attempts to find villains that they can follow – but fail. When they arrive in the United States, it is 1968, a huge poster of Richard Nixon for his campaign, a time of flower power and a range of popular songs that recur throughout the film.
But, they are rewarded, by discovering an arch-villain, Scarlet Overkill, and find that she is due to be the star of the villains’ convention. Off they go, hitchhiking, and being picked up by a really nice-seeming American family, mom and pop and the two kids – who suddenly put on masks and rush in to rob a bank. Just the right family for the Minions. And they are off to the conference as well.
It is one of those very American conventions, loads of stalls, loads of spruiking, villains galore – though most of them are quite inept, including Prof Flux who travelled back and forth from the future and had a different professor each time he returned – with their deciding that they should get rid of the superfluous ones, only, of course, killing off the original!
And there is Scarlet Overkill, voiced by Sandra Bullock, a larger than life presence, highly theatrical in her presentation, supported by her husband, voiced by Jon Hamm with some humorous remarks. Scarlet defies everyone to defeat her – with, in some mixups, Kevin and his friends outwitting her. She takes them on, and off they go to adventures in the United Kingdom, to London of the young Queen Elizabeth, to the Tower of London, security guards, and a deadly plot to steal the Crown from the Queen and for Scarlet herself to be installed and crowned in Westminster Abbey.
So, plenty for the British audience as well as the Americans – and it will be interesting to know what the Queen actually thought about how she was presented, robbed of the Crown, cavorting with the public in a bar, rather raucously voiced by Jennifer Saunders.
Whether Scarlet is successful in stealing the Crown and keeping it, you’ll have to go and see Minions. The nice American family is there at every turn cheering on the Minions. and, if enough audiences round the world cheer them on at the box office, there is plenty of scope for them to return.
1. The title, the focus on the minions? The background in Despicable Me? strange intelligent creatures? The love for villains?
2. The animation style, French background? The figures, the characters, the situations, the special effects and action? The history of the minions? In the US, in the UK? The musical score?
3. The voice cast, and the language of the minions?
4. The previous films, inventing the history of the minions? The past, evolution, small, growing, the community, fear, Kevin emerging, the challenge, Stuart and Bob? The others following?
5. The minions’ characters, their expressions, mouths, eyes, voices, the community and change?
6. The minions and their seeking villains, the variety of searches, the tests, the strange creatures and the collage of villains? Their reactions?
7. 1968, Richard Nixon, hippies, flower power, the songs of the period?
8. The conference, trying to get to the conference, hitchhiking, meeting the family, the nice American family, parents, children, their behaviour in the car, suddenly robbing the bank, the family excited about the minions? Their support of the minions, at the conference, in London, in Westminster?
9. The conference, the show, the pizzazz, the variety of strange types, promoting the ability, Prof Flux and destroying himself? The variety of stalls?
10. Scarlet Overkill, her appearance, her voice, the introduction, the response of the crowd, her theatrics on stage? Her husband, personality, comments? Her testing villains? The minions, becoming involved, the irony of their winning?
11. The comedy, the nature of evil, comic?
12. The mission to the UK, the atmosphere of London, the Queen, the Crown, the tower, the guards?
13. Scarlet and her plan to steal the Crown? Effective?
14. The Queen, at the pub, Jennifer Saunders and her voice, the irony about this presentation of the Queen? The people?
15. The ceremony, Scarlet, the Coronation, the crowds? The minions, going to action, causing upheaval, in the Abbey, taking sides, the solution? The Queen and her response?
16. The future for the minions?
