MINIONS - review

MINIONS
Director: Kyle Balda & Pierre Coffin
Cast: Pierre Coffin, Sandra Bullock, Jon Hamm, Geoffrey Rush, Jennifer Saunders, Michael Keaton, Allison Janney, Steve Coogan

My sincerest apologies for being behind the times with getting this review out. I have been busy sunning myself in far north Queensland for the wedding of a dear friend and did not ahev the access to the interwebs that I thought I would have. The school holidays are all but over now, but if you still have time over the weekend to get out with the kiddies, or want something to do in the freakish cold snap that's happening in the southern part of the country - get amongst it I say!

Kevin, Stuart and Bob are off on atheir biggest adventure yet

image via Universal Studios

MINIONS was one of the most highly anticipated school holiday films for mid-year 2015, and in my opinion didn't disappoint. DESPICABLE ME 2 was funnier than the first installment because those lovable little yellow guys got more screen time, so it stands to reason that spin-off focussing solely on the minions would be a huge hit and while it hasn't been smashing any box office records, it has been a hit with children and adults alike.

I scooted off pre-holidays with LahLah and Team B to catch this film before the hoards of kiddies managed to get in and I'm sure glad I did - my local has been playing the film to sold out sessions all through the holidays and rightly so I say. I mean it's 91 minutes of miniony adorableness, their distinctive design, their individual personalities, their non-sensical and yet somehow understandable language, voiced by the incredibly talented Pierre Coffin, what's not to love?

As if you wouldn't pick up these adorable hitchikers!

image via Universal Studios

I have to be honest, I was excited, but sceptical about this film. Would their adorableness run out in a full feature about them? Would I get tired of not knowing exactly what the hell they were talking about? Would these comdeic scene-stealers leave me bored and disappointed? Luckily screen write Brian Lynch has managed to keep up the comic momentum of these little yellow dudes for almost the full 91 minutes. Instead of trying to fill the film with emotional depth and meaning, Lynch just sets them loose for 91 minutes of slapstick comedy gold.

The Minions sole purpose in life is to serve the biggest, baddest, evil genius around, the only trouble is, they aren't very good at keeping the biggest, baddest, evil geniuses around for very long. Without a boss, our little yellow buddies lose their drive, they have no purpose and become depressed. Never fear, Kevin has a plan. He's going to go and find his family a new boss, and so with the help of Stuart and Bob, Keving embarks on the greatest journey any minion has ever been on. They travel the world and eventually end up in Orlando at a secret villian conference aptly named "Villain-Con". There they meet their new boss, Scarlet Overkill (Sandra Bullock), the world's first female super-villain.

BANANA!!!
image via universal studios

Overkill sends them on their first mission, which (to no ones surprise) goes belly up. Disaster after hilarious disaster sees them battling it out with Overkill to save the United Kingdom. The slapstick comedy keeps the pace moving throughout the film, and only a few times did I think to myself "hmmm, I wonder how much longer it goes for?".

There's not as much subtle adult humor in MINIONS as there is in some other animated motion pictures, but it is still enjoyable for all you mums, dads, aunties and babysitters out there looking for something to keep the kids occupied in the second week of the holidays. The little ones will get plenty of laughs out of the glorious slapstick comedy. Maybe avoid the cheap Tuesday crowds, it's pretty good value at 20-something dollars.

3.5 out of 5

xoxo
The Blonde Bombshel

SPY - review

SPY
Director: Paul Feig
Cast: Melissa McCarthy, Jude Law, Rose Byrne, Miranda Hart, Jason Statham, Allison Janney, Bobby Cannavale

Recently I've found Melissa McCarthy to be a little bit type cast in the stupid funny comedies, and I was thinking that SPY would be much the same - a bit of a stupid funny comedy. It was a stupid funny comedy, but it was a GOOD stupid funny comedy and McCarthy was wonderful in it.

In their last movie together Feig took a mostly male dominated genre (buddy cop) and put a female spin on it. THE HEAT was a bit of a flop for me, a stupid funny comedy that didn't hit the mark. This time round Feig has put a female spin on the spy movie genre that is again a mostly male dmoniated genre, and this time round it worked.

SPY starts off with a little nod to the traditional nature of spy movies, the woman is desk bound and the strapping young lad is off in the field doing all the dirty work. McCarthy plays the desk bound woman Susan Cooper who is the desk jockey partner, guiding her strapping partner Bradley Fine through his very exciting field missions. She has spent her entire career in his shadow, and when he goes MIA, she gets the opportunity to step up and take her place in the field. She's trained for it, she went through the academy, was quite successful, and then ended up plonked behind the desk of her mentor.

Cooper and Fine at a celebratory dinner 

The film has some amusing parodies about the very unglamours nature of the CIA office, where Cooper is located in the building's basement, and other reviewers are claiming it's a little metaphor for the way Hollywood treats actresses. Now I didn't get that at all, and I did plenty of film analysis and theme studies as an English major, and I did not pick up on that at all, and I don't know that the majority of other people would either.

Cooper is very obviously in love with her partner, Fine, and when he goes MIA, and the rest of the film follows the basic premise of FACE/OFF, in fact they make a little joke about it in the script. There's a super nuke hidden somewhere, and the only person who knows where it's hidden is the daughter of a now dead international arms dealer Rayna (Rose Byrne). Somewhow she has all the identities of the top CIA agents, and the only person left to go after her and save the world is our lovely little desk jockey Susan Cooper.

Crocker giving Cooper her first mission

Cooper's boss, Elaine Crocker (Allison Janney) gives her a 'track and report' mission, but somehow Cooper cannot help but get far more involved, leady to a serious of comedic hijinks and spy escapades. She assumes a new identity and infiltrates Rayna's circle and does her best to get to the bottom os the missing and very dangerous nuke. Cooper is surrounded by naysayers who keep telling her she can't do it and biggest of all the naysayers is Agent Rick Ford (Jason Satham) who surprisingly is a comedic genius - who knew?!

the moment of infiltration and an acid martini 

The hilarious hijinks carry on throughout the movie and McCarthy and Statham play off each other beautifully. I didn't think he had it in him to be the funny guy, but he even steals some scenes from McCarthy throughout the film. It was quite a glorious thing to watch. I'd pick a favourite bit, but I can't, it really was an all round funny movie, a little spoofy at times, but I think that was the point.

The film was wonderfully directed, Feig has done an excellent job, and the rest of the casting is great. Byrne, Law, Hart and Cannavale make for a super supporting cast, and the script is full of excellent one liners. There are some super fight and chase scenes, a few SFX, but nothing too OTT. Oh, except maybe the helicopter thing, that might have been a little OTT, but I enjoyed it anyway.

I won't go much further into it, because I want you to enjoy the film for yourself. Don't get me wrong, I don't know that this film is going to be an award winning film, but it's certainly one of the more enjoyable comedies I've seen this year and I would recommend that you go and see it if you get the chance. It's got at least 20-something dollars worth of laughs in it, if not more.

3.5 out of 5

xoxo
The Blonde Bombshell