Rating: PG, for action and rude humor.
The Minions always were the best parts of the Despicable Me movies anyway. Now, the little, yellow, pill-shaped creatures have a movie of their own. This 3-D animated comedy serves as an origin story, explaining where the Minions came from and how they’ve had a singular purpose for centuries: Find the most evil villain they can, and then do that person’s bidding (although in the beginning, they worked for a T. rex). The central adventure here finds three brave Minions — Kevin, Stuart and Bob — venturing away from the pack into the vast unknown to find their latest and greatest big boss. At a bad-guy convention, they discover the first female super villain, Scarlet Overkill (voiced by Sandra Bullock), who seeks their help in stealing Queen Elizabeth’s crown. As you might expect from these irrepressible imps, a lot of the humor here is of the silly and slapsticky variety: slams, slaps and squashings. At one point, the Minions work for Dracula, but he’s more of a goofy figure than a frightening one. A scene in a dungeon full of potentially scary contraptions ends up being played for laughs. And Scarlet herself is cartoonish in every way imaginable, from her teased-up coif to her shrieky demeanor to her sleek, high-tech vehicles. Totally fine for everyone — although the kids in your house will probably laugh a lot harder than you will.
