Minions

The little yellow things from Despicable Me get their own film, and their banana shtick is fun for a while, but not enough to sustain an entire feature. Things start funny enough with a brief history of the Minions since the beginning of time. They've always wanted to be henchman, and they are attracted to bad guys, so we see a lot of their past, unlucky bosses (Dracula, T-Rex, Napoleon, etc.). They wind up settling north worshipping the Abominable Snowman when three of them (Stuart, Kevin and Bob) decide to head out on a journey to look for a new master. Their travels take them to New York in 1968, the year of my birth and arguably one of the worst years in American history. The pop culture references when they first arrive, including a fantastic Richard Nixon billboard and The Dating Game, are well done. The movie has a cool Mad Magazine vibe in its first half. The charm soon wears off when the trio head to Orlando in search of Scarlett Overkill (Sandra Bullock), the world's greatest female super villain. The film goes off the rails in its second half as the Minions routine grows grating. Jennifer Saunders is a highlight as Queen Elizabeth when the action goes to England, but she isn't enough to save the movie.