Movie · 2015 · Family, Animation, Adventure, Comedy · 1h 31m · PG · English
Curator score: 1.9/10 (936.1K ratings)
Go back to where it all began.
Overview
Minions Stuart, Kevin and Bob are recruited by Scarlet Overkill, a super-villain who, alongside her inventor husband Herb, hatches a plot to take over the world.
Ratings
Curator score: 1.9/10
IMDb: 6.4/10
Letterboxd: 3.01/5
Rotten Tomatoes: 55%
Metacritic: 56
TMDB: 6.4/10
Director
Kyle Balda, Pierre Coffin
Production
Illumination, Universal Pictures
Cast
Sandra Bullock, Jon Hamm, Michael Keaton, Allison Janney, Steve Coogan, Jennifer Saunders, Geoffrey Rush, Steve Carell, Pierre Coffin, Katy Mixon, Michael Beattie, Hiroyuki Sanada, Dave Rosenbaum, Alex Dowding, Paul Thornley, Kyle Balda, Ava Acres, Sherry Lynn, Mickie McGowan, Carlos Alazraqui
Where to watch
Peacock Premium, Peacock Premium Plus
Curator Review
Verdict
A noisy, brightly animated kid-comedy with a few genuinely funny bits and strong visual polish, but the feature-length gimmick is stretched thin. If you already enjoy the Minions’ nonsense and can tolerate relentless slapstick, it can work as disposable family entertainment.
Best for
families with younger kids
viewers who like broad slapstick and visual gags
fans of the Despicable Me universe
people looking for easy, low-stakes animation
Skip if
you need sharp storytelling or emotional depth
you dislike hyperactive, repetitive comedy
you find the Minions’ gibberish grating
you want a film that works as much for adults as for children
Overview
Minions is essentially a joke machine built around one of modern animation’s most marketable side characters. The best stretches lean into pure visual comedy, with crisp timing, bright production design, and a few inspired absurdist bits that land whether or not you care about the lore. It’s easy to see why kids latch onto it: the movie moves fast, stays loud, and never asks for much beyond attention and a tolerance for chaos.
Worth noting
At the same time, the film’s biggest strength is also its limitation. The Minions are funniest in small doses, and stretching their nonsense into a full feature can feel repetitive. The plot is mostly a delivery system for gags, and the villain parody energy is more cartoonish than memorable. Some viewers will find that enough; others will feel the runtime more than they should.
Bottom line
As a family movie, it’s harmless and often amusing. As a comedy, it’s uneven but not without charm. If you’re in the mood for polished, candy-colored slapstick rather than narrative sophistication, it does the job.
Top Letterboxd reviews
James (Schaffrillas) (1★) · 6936 likes
There was a scene where they try to hang the Minions and I liked that scene
Hayden (5★) · 4644 likes
To be fair, you have to have a very high IQ to understand an arthouse film like Minions (2015). The humor is extremely subtle, and without a solid grasp of minion-ese most of the jokes will go over a typical viewer's head. There's also Stuart's nihilistic outlook, which is deftly woven into his characterization and his personal philosophy draws heavily from Narodnaya Volya literature, for instance. The fans understand this stuff; they have the intellectual capacity to truly appreciate the… more To be fair, you have to have a very high IQ to understand an arthouse film like Minions (2015). The humor is extremely subtle, and without a solid grasp of minion-ese most of the jokes will go over a typical viewer's head. There's also Stuart's nihilistic outlook, which is deftly woven into his characterization and his personal philosophy draws heavily from Narodnaya Volya literature, for instance. The fans understand this stuff; they have the intellectual capacity to truly appreciate the… more
sydney · 3088 likes
when i say i would die for my daughter, it doesn't only mean i would give her a vital organ or make her drink the last of the water in a desert or take her place in front of an oncoming speeding vehicle or pull her out of a burning building. it also means i will die thousands upon thousands of small deaths - i watched the seconds of my life tick slowly away as i endured the mind-numbing boredom… more when i say i would die for my daughter, it doesn't only mean i would give her a vital organ or make her drink the last of the water in a desert or take her place in front of an oncoming speeding vehicle or pull her out of a burning building. it also means i will die thousands upon thousands of small deaths - i watched the seconds of my life tick slowly away as i endured the mind-numbing boredom… more