Rating summary

Movie		3.0
Video		5.0
Audio		5.0
Extras		2.5
Overall		4.0

Minions 3D Blu-ray Movie Review

Evil is fun! And yellow. And in 3D.

Reviewed by Martin Liebman November 26, 2015

Minions is a movie made of many simplicities. The journey-based plot is as basic as they come, the characters are essentially a yellow pill with four limbs and an eye or two, the action and humor feel modern animation-stock, and the animation is great but nothing particularly novel or exciting for the 2015 digital age. But the movie wants to thrive on the approachability that comes with that simplicity. It's tailored to the youngest of audiences, viewers who will adore the colors and the gibberish and dismiss the fact these are in fact bad guys because, well, cute>bad. Indeed, it's cute. Really cute. But many in the audience with a vocabulary that's even only a notch more advanced than the movie's main characters may very well find it too much of too little, meaning that the movie is so prone to simply jump from colorful scene to colorful scene and silly audible cue to silly audible cue that the barrage of fluff only exposes, rather than hides, the vacuous center. The youngest kids won't mind. They'll be happy to curl up with their Minions plush and enjoy the silly ride. Older kids and adults may very well find the movie funny, too (and pick up on some of its fun little easter eggs, like when the Minions find themselves literally popping up into the cover of the Beatles' Abbey Road album), but otherwise lacking in pretty much every other area of concern.

3D is about depth, not length. Come on, guys!

Minions have existed since, well, existence, it seems. They live not to better themselves or improve the world around them but instead only to serve the most diabolically evil master they can find. And they've worked for some doozies: the Tyrannosaurus Rex, Dracula, and the Egyptian Pharaohs. But somehow, despite their singular goal of only furthering their master's career in evil, they mess up and wind up killing their boss. The same thing nearly happens when they get behind Napoleon, but the diminutive French conquerer runs them off, forcing them into hiding. Decades pass. They do their best to entertain themselves, but they lack fulfillment. They're not in a rut, they're on the verge of losing everything, including their identity. In a desperate move to save their race, a Minion by the name of Kevin (voiced by Pierre Coffin), along with Stuart and Bob (both also voiced by Coffin), set out to find a new master to serve. Their long, arduous trek around the globe leads them to 1968 New York, which in turn leads them to a villain convention in Orlando where they meet, and eventually win the favor of, the world's first female super villain, Scarlet Overkill (voiced by Sandra Bullock). They return to her home country of England where an epic power struggle, with the Minions in the middle, will decide the future of the nation, Overkill's fate as a super villain, and the Minions' very existence and future path.

Minions embarks on a fairly risky cinema journey, elevating secondary characters from the Despicable Me films -- essentially gibberish-speaking comic relief sidekicks -- to feature film heroes. The result is a steadily generic film, one with big, manufactured adventure and plenty of laughs but a fairly linear and, for a huge animated film, unimaginative story. The film plays on the origins story angle, looking at how the Minions came to be, where they've been, and how they will get to where they're headed, but there's a distinct lack of engaging drama at work. Here is a film that banks entirely on its colors and sounds and leaves behind any sort of meaningful companion subtext that defines the best movies that the digitally animated landscape has to offer, like Inside Out, and makes them a success beyond the external attributes. But that doesn't mean Minions lacks focus. It just chooses to focus on the superficial, and it's so superficially dazzling it's sure to mesmerize the target demographic -- very young children -- with every scene. Even as it's fairly hollow below the surface, the film proves charming and accessible and the characters memorably absurd, a testament to the creators who have made a successful, if not superficial, movie out of a trio of heroes whose actions speak louder than whatever bits of words they mutter.

Minions 3D Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Minions' Blu-ray 3D release is every bit as great as its 2D-only counterpart (also included in this set), and with some fantastic third dimension attributes in its arsenal as well. Basic color and detail are fantastic. That look of a trace bit of overlying haze or film remains, but almost never at the expense of the exquisite colors and rich details. Minion yellow and blue denim define the movie, but a range of other shades -- earthy backdrops in the prehistoric times, chilly ice caverns, Scarlet's red attire and vehicle -- compliment the primaries very well. Details remain incredible, with various backgrounds essentially photorealistic, clothes and city accents precisely textured, and the Minions themselves practically tactile, looking more like a real, physical toy rather than a digital construction. On the 3D side, the image continues to impress. Depth is absolutely effortless, whether in sprawling ocean water or tightly packed cities. Distance expands back into the screen, water threatens to spill out the front, and there's always a tangible sense of space between objects and characters. Minions are very shapely and audiences can even see back into their mouths. Scarlet's gun sticks out of the screen at the 52:12 mark (as does her sharp, pointy noise on multiple occasions), little bubbles drift above at film's start, and there's no shortage of other elements that extend beyond the screen rather than simply push back into it. This is a fun 3D transfer that fits the movie -- its characters and locations -- very well and certainly enhances the movie's pure enjoyment factor over the standard 2D presentation.

Minions 3D Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Minions features a Dolby Atmos (core Dolby TrueHD 7.1 lossless) soundtrack. This review pertains to the TrueHD track. It's playful and healthy, nicely spaced throughout and robust and weighty when necessary. The Minions' rendition of the Universal theme music not only sets a playful tone for the movie but a standard of expectations for the track. The humming is well defined, spacing is superb, and a deep supportive low end fills out the experience. There are plenty of classic tunes heard throughout the movie, some playing as everyone knows them and others instead performed by the Minions and their gobbledygook. In either case, musical definition is exacting, and as with the opening studio theme, well spaced and supportively weighty. Surrounds are engaged throughout, with various bits of mischievous action and chaos spilling through the entire listening area. Little details that seem trivial spring to life to help better create the movie's fluid sound stage and dynamics. Bass is a highlight, particularly near the end when a large character lumbers through London and vocalizes with a prodigious bit of deep, rattly booms. General dialogue -- whether intelligible words from human characters or the Minion gibberish (with some recognizable words in a myriad of languages thrown into the fray) -- is clear and precise. This is a fantastic all-around track from Universal.

Minions 3D Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

Minions contains a few extras, highlighted by a trio of mini-movies. A DVD copy of the film and a voucher for a UV/iTunes digital copy are included with purchase. Note that all of the extras are presented on the 3D disc, and while some of them are encoded in MVC format, they appear in 2D only.

• Mini-Movies (1080p, Dolby Digital 5.1): Three shorts inspired by the Minions universe.
  
  
  • CroMinion (425): Minions are left in charge of a prehistoric baby.
  • Competition (3:47): A couple of minions compete against one another, building to an explosive crescendo.
  • Binky Nelson Unpacified (4:34): Binky retrieves his missing pacifier, Mission: Impossible style.
• Deleted Scene (1080p, 0:29): Me, Myself and Stuart.
• Around the World Interactive Map (1080p): Selecting available points on a map reveals various video and still photo features.
• Behind the Goggles -- The Illumination Story of The Minions (1080p): An interactive "headquarters" building reveals various featurettes. Look for a couple of easter eggs in this section. Also note that there's a section titled Reception that doesn't appear to be active.
  
  
  • Writers (3:38): Writer Brian Lynch discusses the history of the minions and answering questions about them in this movie.
  • The Boss' Office (4:48): Illumination Founder and Producer Chris Meledandri looks back on the franchise.
  • Art Dept. (3:32): Character Designer Eric Guillon, Art Director Oliver Adam, and Writer Brian Lynch discuss Minion evolution and design. Guillon's contributions are in French with English subtitles.
  • Recording Studio (2:46): Composer Heitor Pereira, Producer Janet Healy, Illumination Founder and Producer Chris Meledandri, and Directors Kyle Balda and Pierre Coffin discuss some of the unique music that supports the movie.
  • The Break Room: A fun collection of Minion bulletin board materials.
• Jingle Bells Minions Style (1080p, 1:52): The Minions perform the Christmas favorite in their own unique way.
• The Secret Life of Pets -- Summer 2016 (1080p, 2:33): A preview for the upcoming movie.

Minions 3D Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Minions works just fine as a colorful diversion that will satisfy the kids. In fact, it'll probably delight them. But in a marketplace filled with terrific animated movies that both kids and adults can love for their own reasons, Minions leaves the older crowd in the cold, catering exclusively to those more enticed by sight and sound than story depth and purpose. That's not a bad thing, and there's a reason why the movie cleaned up at the box office: it knows its audience and delivers what its audience wants. It's just a bit more focused on its younger audience's immediate wants and needs rather than trying to expand into a multigenerational classic. Universal's Blu-ray 3D release of Minions is one of the best 3D presentations on the market. Color and detail remain exacting and the 3D adds both depth and screen extension, shape and volume to a movie that screams out for it, both on its characters and in its environments. Recommended, and 3D owners should not hesitate to splurge on this edition.