This is the most entertaining, fun-filled 87 minutes we’re likely to experience this summer.
Although so many other franchises show their age over time, we always can depend upon the irrepressibly impish Minions. They’re a force of comedic nature, wrapped up in a banana-yellow, pill-shaped package.
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| Gru's determination to shorten the line at the local ice cream parlor is anticipated with glee by, from left, Stuart, Bob and Kevin. |
But that comes a bit later, in this pell-mell, fast-paced fantasy romp (kudos, as well, to editor Claire Dodgson).
A lengthy prologue introduces bad-ass martial arts fighter Wild Knuckles (voiced by Alan Arkin), leader of an infamous supervillain group, the Vicious 6. Their current goal: to snatch an ancient, glowing green medallion that’ll grant its bearers the awesome mystical powers of Chinese zodiac creatures.
With lithe moves and acrobatic prowess that Indiana Jones could only dream about, Wild Knuckles obtains the prize. He’s then cut loose — literally, from a high altitude — when the other gang members unite behind the far cooler (and younger) Belle Bottom (Taraji P. Henson), whose chain belt doubles as a lethal disco-ball mace.
Time to make way for the new generation, she waspishly chortles.
Cut to a suburban grade school, where 12-year-old Gru (Steve Carell) dreams of becoming a super-villain. His mischievous pranks already border on extreme bad behavior, aided and abetted by favorite Minion companions Kevin (the tall planner), Stuart (the naughty cut-up) and Bob (the youngster, rarely without a tiny teddy bear).
All are voiced, with distinctly different language-mangling, by Pierre Coffin.
(It should be mentioned that this is the scheming, proto-malevolent Gru, as depicted in the first Despicable Me, rather than the reluctantly heroic do-gooder into which he morphed, as the series progressed.)
Gru already is on his way to cackling master-villainy, thanks to a way-cool basement lair constructed by the entire Minion gang, much to the dismay of his New Age-y mother (Julie Andrews). And if his weapon of choice dispenses Cheez Whiz rather than a death ray, well, a kid’s gotta start somewhere … right?
Given that their group name demands a replacement for the recently departed Wild Knuckles, Belle and the other hold open auditions; learning of this, Gru couldn’t be more delighted. Alas, the baddies are unimpressed upon discovering that this particular wannabe is just a child.
“Come back when you do something that impresses us,” Belle snarls, derisively.
Thanks to a convergence of unlikely events, Gru impresses them immediately … by stealing the medallion. Alas, this elicits the wrong sort of interest, when Belle and her enraged cohorts come charging after Gru and his little buddies.
Then things get really crazy.
Trouble is, this moment of panic prompts Gru to entrust the medallion to Otto, an insufferably loquacious and easily distracted Minion. As a result …
… well, that would be telling.
(At this point, we’re barely 20 minutes into the film.)
The directors and writers divide the subsequent action into distinct challenges, setbacks, mini-adventures and hilarious digressions. The best by far: the means by which Kevin, Stuart and Bob — separated from the others — make their way to San Francisco. Cue the funniest, fastest and most frantic plane trip in cinema history.
Meanwhile, Otto winds up in a cross-country pursuit — on three wheels — of an awesomely cool dude on a motorcycle (RZA).
Nor do Belle and her improbably outrageous co-villains take this lying down. They are, in brief:
• Jean Clawed (Jean-Claude Van Damme), armed with a giant robotic claw;
• Nunchuck (Lucy Lawless), who nun’s habit hides (what else?) deadly nun-chucks;
• Svengeance (Dolph Lundgren), who dispenses his enemies with spin-kicks from his spiked roller skates; and
• Stronghold (Danny Trejo), whose giant iron hands are … often in the way.
In a nod to the future, we also meet a twentysomething Nefario (Russell Brand), a cheekily coy inventor currently moonlighting as a store clerk.
Once in San Francisco, knowing that they need to enhance their battle prowess, Kevin and his two buddies chance upon Master Chow, an acupuncturist with mad kung fu skills (voiced by none other than Michelle Yeoh).
These madcap antics aside, the story is grounded by character individuality — Kevin, Stuart, Bob and Otto are quite distinct — and the script’s careful attention to heart, respect and loyalty. Much as Gru wants to be bad, his better nature has an occasional tendency to surface (which, of course, makes him more endearing).
The directors and writers pay equal attention to every other aspect of this delightful romp, starting with a James Bondian opening credits montage that honors all of that franchise’s classic Maurice Binder title sequences.
Heitor Pereira’s high-spirited orchestral score is frequently interrupted by period-appropriate pop tunes: both original versions, and covers, of everything from “Desafinado” and the Carpenters’ “Goodbye to Love,” to “Black Magic Woman,” “Funkytown” and “You’re No Good.”
Some of these tunes are heavily Minionized. It took me a few seconds to recognize Paul Simon’s “Cecilia,” and you’ll die laughing over what happens to the Rolling Stones’ “You Can’t Always Get What You Want.”
Actually, if it were possible to die laughing, nobody would get out of the theater alive. Sustaining the crisply edited, split-second gag-timing of classic seven-minute Warner Bros. cartoons, over the course of an 87-minute film, is no easy feat.
All concerned therefore should take well-deserved bows.
1 comment:
Great writing!
You convinced me to see this tomorrow. Thank you!
Now, we desperately need an Elvis review. : )
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