Anyone who is a fan of the the Despicable Me films has likely been waiting for the Minions film to be released in theaters. Now it has arrived and we can all see whether it lived up to the hype.

Millions of years ago, the Minions evolved on the Earth, long before humans were around. Their only desire was to serve the meanest, most evil villain they could find, but they seemed to keep killing them all (accidentally, of course). After this happened one to many times, they were chased into the icy wilderness where they hid for over 100 years. After seeing that his fellow Minions were going to die from boredom, Kevin decided to set out and find a new boss. With his two companions, they trekked for many miles, ending up on a boat in New York Harbor.

Eventually, they meet up with and join with a villain named Scarlet Overkill (voiced by Sandra Bullock), and she appears to be the ultimate evil genius they have been seeking. Of course, things don’t go exactly as planned.

Minions doesn’t have all of the same cast and crew involved in the first two films in the franchise, and while it starts off pretty strongly, the humor and the flow of the film suffer because of it. The film wasn’t as energetic as its predecessors, as if it was having trouble figuring out exactly what it wanted to do. The story wasn’t as robust, either, so it dragged in parts.

Fans of music from the late 1960s and early 1970s will enjoy the soundtrack, with nostalgic tracks such as “Mellow Yellow” and “Happy Together” to take you back to those heady days. There are also a couple cameos of famous singers and groups from that period, so keep an eye out.

I wonder how Brits will handle the depiction of Queen Elizabeth II, as she hasn’t got all her marbles in Minions. The filmmakers weren’t outright rude for the most part, but seemed to take great fun giving her a few good pokes in the eye. All in good fun, I suppose.

In the end, despite not being quite up to the level established by the two Despicable Me films, Minions was still an enjoyable film. Fans of the series will enjoy it, the kids in the audience seemed to really enjoy it, and I plan to add it to my collection.

Release Date: July 10, 2015 (USA)
MPAA Rating: PG
Language: English

MySF Rating: Three point five stars
Family Friendliness: 90%

Content:

Alcohol/Drugs: 1 (occasional social drinking and smoking)
Language: 1 (very mild and infrequent)
Nudity: 0 (other than Minion behinds)
Sexuality: 2 (a fair amount of innuendo)
Violence: 3 (frequent slapstick violence, some death and implied death)