After living in a cave for a few centuries, the minions become a severely depressed species - until Kevin finally decides to venture out into the world again to look for a new villain to serve, and he takes Bob and Stuart on a trip to 1968 New York, where they - until then dressed in sheepskins for warmth - find their now-iconic denim dungarees in a throwaway moment that isn’t quite as impactful as the film wants it to be.Įarly shenanigans of the minions - whose high-pitched gibberish has taken on a more Latin slant here, often sounding like a vague mix of Spanish, Italian and French, with the occasional English word thrown in - include watching The Dating Game, with the show amusingly featuring three male candidates also called Bob, Kevin and Stuart. Read more ‘Star Wars,’ ‘Minions’ to Lead Record Year for Toy Industryīut since they’re in the habit of not doing things quite the way they should be done - and wreaking amusing havoc in the process - the minions end up exiled in Antarctica after Napoleon’s disastrous Russian campaign (how this is possible geographically is never explained). rex, an evil pharaoh, Dracula - whose 357th birthday celebration, thrown by the minions, comes to a predictably disastrous end when they throw open the curtains during the day - and Napoleon. Balda previously co-directed The Lorax together with Chris Renaud, Coffin’s helming colleague on the first two Despicable films who here acts as an executive producer and also provides some of the voices.Īs narrator Geoffrey Rush explains during the film’s busy opening sequence, minions have been around for much longer than man, eagerly serving baddies wherever they can find them. All three are voiced by Coffin, who co-directed the first two films as well.
The film, written by Brian Lynch, stars the three minions seen auditioning during the end credits of Despicable Me 2: Kevin, the leader of the gang overeager and heterochromic Bob, who’s still a child (or at least shorter than the others and always in need of a toy or pet) and one-eyed Stuart, who didn’t exactly volunteer for the job but is taken along on Kevin’s expedition, anyway. Minions premiered at France’s Annecy International Animated Film Festival and opens in several territories overseas before its U.S. This at least bodes well for this film’s opening weekend, though longer-term prospects seem more uncertain. That said, the film’s slapsticky gags are often amusing, and this franchise, which has turned out quality animated films on relatively small budgets (the first two were produced for under $78 million each), has built up a lot of audience goodwill, with Despicable Me 2 making $970 million worldwide.
Read more New ‘Minions’ Trailer: Corgis, Thongs, Sexual Innuendo Illumination Taps Fox Vet Keith Feldman as COO