The two Despicable Me films were ostensibly about evil mastermind Gru, but it was those ovular yellow troublemakers the Minions who were the franchise’s breakout stars. Now they’ve got their own movie — aptly titled Minions — and critics say it’s colorful and funny, though its wacky slapstick gags only partially compensate for the lack of a strong narrative. The movie tells the millennia-spanning story of the Minions and their supervillain servitude; special attention is paid to Minions Stuart, Kevin, and Bob, who team up with the nefarious Scarlett and Herb Overkill (voiced by Sandra Bullock and Jon Hamm) for a daring jewel heist. The pundits say Minions is cute and visually inventive, though the titular heroes may be put to better use as supporting players. (Check out our video interviews with the cast, and flip through our gallery of the best and worst TV and movie henchmen.)
Director Tarsem Singh is undoubtedly a strong visual stylist, and his latest, Self/less, has an undeniably intriguing premise. So it’s unfortunate, critics say, when the film shifts abruptly from cerebral sci-fi to generic shoot-’em-up. Loosely based on John Frankenheimer’s eerie 1966 classic Seconds, the film follows ailing real estate billionaire Damian Hale (Ben Kingsley) as he undergoes a risky medical procedure to inhabit a new, younger body. Soon, however, this rejuvenated Damian (now played by Ryan Reynolds) learns there may have been more to the procedure than he was led to believe. The pundits say the performances are fine, but Self/less never achieves the intellectual ambitions to which it aspires. (Check out this week’s Total Recall, in which we count down Kingsley’s best-reviewed movies, and find out our Singh’s Five Favorite Films.)
The best found footage horror films (The Blair Witch Project, Paranormal Activity) succeed in creating an air of immediacy. Unfortunately, critics say the big problem with The Gallows is that its handheld camera gimmick does little to intensify its bump-in-the-night jolts. Twenty years after the onstage death of the lead actor in a high school play, students from the school decide to revive the production to pay tribute to the dead; spookiness ensues. The pundits say The Gallows has a couple decent scares, but not enough to sell this relatively generic frightfest.
