Minions (2015)

By 2015, the little yellow creatures from the Despicable Me series had become one of the most recognisable presences in popular culture, their gibberish-laced antics plastered across everything from cinema screens to lunchboxes. The Minions, who first appeared as supporting characters in the 2010 original, had gradually stolen so much of the spotlight that a spin-off was, from a commercial standpoint, almost inevitable. Minions duly arrived in the summer of 2015 from Illumination Entertainment and Universal Pictures, positioning itself as a prequel of sorts: where did these chaotic, banana-obsessed creatures come from, and how did they end up working for Gru? The film takes that question as a loose premise and then proceeds to build a story around three Minions, Stuart, Kevin and Bob, who set off to find a suitably villainous employer, eventually landing in 1960s London and crossing paths with Scarlet Overkill, a glamorous and ambitious super-villain with designs on the British Crown.

The film is co-directed by Pierre Coffin, who voiced the Minions across the Despicable Me series and had co-directed the first two instalments of that franchise, and Kyle Balda, who would go on to direct Despicable Me 3 and later Minions: The Rise of Gru. Illumination, the studio behind the production, had by this point established a house style: colourful, fast-paced, and built around broad comic appeal, polished but unremarkable in terms of visual ambition. The film operates without any source novel or prior intellectual property beyond its own franchise, making it an original story in a fairly narrow sense. Its 91-minute runtime is modest enough, and the 1960s London backdrop offers a potentially rich period setting, complete with a pop-heavy soundtrack that leans on the era's musical identity.

The voice cast is a reasonably starry collection. Sandra Bullock, a performer with considerable range across genres (as anyone who has seen her in Gravity or Bird Box will know), takes on the role of Scarlet Overkill, the film's central antagonist. Jon Hamm plays her husband Herb, leaning into an affable, retro-cool energy. Michael Keaton and Allison Janney appear as members of an all-American villain family the Minions encounter along the way, while Steve Coogan contributes a supporting turn. On paper it is a capable ensemble, lending vocal colour to what is very much an ensemble-free comedy in structural terms. Whether all that talent is well deployed is another matter.

Minions isn’t so much a film as it is a 90-minute advertisement for yellow plastic toys. Spun off from the Despicable Me franchise, this prequel follows a tribe of hyperactive, gibberish-speaking Minions as they bounce through history in search of the most evil boss to serve. The concept was already wearing thin as comic relief; stretching it into a full-length feature feels less like a creative decision and more like a boardroom calculation. And that’s exactly what it is, a pure, unapologetic cash grab. There’s no real story, no stakes, and barely a coherent plot. One villain is replaced by another, the Minions cause mindless chaos, they learn a hollow lesson about loyalty, and then it’s over. The humour is relentlessly basic (slapstick, fart jokes, exaggerated faces) with nothing aimed at anyone over the age of six (which is clearly the intention, I admit). Even the animation, usually a strength of Illumination’s work, feels cheaper, flatter, more like a Saturday morning cartoon than a cinema release. Sandra Bullock voices the villain, Scarlet Overkill, with evident effort, but she’s stranded in a role that goes nowhere. The 1960s London setting is underused, the side characters forgettable, and the whole thing drags despite its short runtime. It’s hard to imagine anyone over the age of seven getting more than five minutes of genuine enjoyment out of it (again... which is fine). A soulless spin-off that exists to sell merchandise and pad a franchise long past its prime. Barely qualifies as a movie. Just noise, colour, and brand extension. One of the laziest entries in modern family cinema.

I will say that the 1960s setting was the one element I found myself genuinely curious about going in, and the fact that it amounts to little more than visual wallpaper is probably the film's biggest missed opportunity, for me at least. There is something almost impressive, in a backhanded way, about how thoroughly a film can resist every chance it is handed. If you are after animated fare with a bit more craft and soul to it, you are better off looking elsewhere entirely, and I would point you in the direction of something like The Hunchback of Notre Dame, a family film that actually bothers to try. As for the Minions themselves, they are probably best appreciated in the small doses the original films afforded them. Ninety-one minutes is a long time to spend with someone whose entire personality is falling over.

Rating: ★½  | Year: 2015  | Watched: 2025-08-04

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Trailer

▶ Watch the official trailer for Minions (2015) on YouTube

Where to watch

Watch in the UK
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Related on Movies With Macca

More from Kyle Balda: Minions: The Rise of Gru (2022) · Despicable Me 3 (2017)
More with Sandra Bullock: Bird Box (2018) · Gravity (2013) · Demolition Man (1993)
More from the 2010s: Wonder (2017) · Beautiful Boy (2018) · The Witch (2015) · What We Do in the Shadows (2014)
More family: Alice in Wonderland (1951) · Wonder (2017) · Kirikou and the Wild Beasts (2005) · Anastasia (1997)
More animation: Fantastic Planet (1973) · Alice in Wonderland (1951) · Mononoke the Movie: The Phantom in the Rain (2024) · Mononoke the Movie: Chapter II - The Ashes of Rage (2025)