Despicable Me & Minions

[Ben]

Well, that's because they're all...short...right?

[James]

Yes, Ben, the Minions are short but that's not what I meant.

[ShyViolet]

Interesting article:

http://touch.latimes.com/#section/-1/ar ... -76527620/

[EricJ]

Maybe they're showing someplace--I know, I've seen isolated clips--but I haven't seen a single ad or trailer that tells us what the darn thing's ABOUT.
I know from reading press articles the story has something to do with Gru working for the good guys, but every single teaser trailer I've seen since Christmas (and going to a corporate chain theater, I've seen a lot of them by now) have been isolated standalone comedy shorts with, as one poster put it, "the Jabbering Twinkies".
I know, they're following Scrat's lead, and even Disney's Frozen couldn't resist the lure. But seriously, Universal, couldn't you ignore your Corporate Icons long enough to give us, y'know, a little HINT?

[James]

Hope you all are checking out The Rotoscopers. Here's another great video from Morgan, reviewing Despicable Me 2: http://animatedviews.com/2013/rotoscope ... able-me-2/

[Bill1978]

I don't get to the cinema that often, but even I have managed to come across a trailer on YouTube that told me the general story of the movie.

[James]

AV review: http://a-vie.ws/5r

[LotsoA113]

Had similar feelings to you James. Just felt disappointing, especially since I loved the first one. I have this odd feeling that we're in for a Shrek situation here; brilliant first movie followed up endless, pointless sequels.

[Randall]

I only felt that the first film was "just okay" (though impressive for a debut film), so my expectations for the sequel are low.

[James]

I wasn't a huge fan of the first one either but recently rewatched it for the first time since it came out and thought it held up better than I remembered. It was better than the sequel.

[EricJ]

Had similar feelings to you James. Just felt disappointing, especially since I loved the first one. I have this odd feeling that we're in for a Shrek situation here; brilliant first movie followed up endless, pointless sequels.

Universal is determined to make their Illumination animation department The House The Minions Built, so we're in for a whole string of Shrek-style house-building until something Third-ish happens to bring it crashing down.
The first movie wasn't bad (although, watching it next to Horton Hears a Who, you could see that Chris Meledandri only has two or three jokes that he can tell), but familiarity is going to breed contempt pretty darn FAST if they don't keep the Minion marketing a little more balanced with the Gru marketing.

[Ben]

I thought the first film was "okay", nothing too special. And I don't get the Minions love. Alright, well, I get it, but they're just a variation on the green "ooooooooooohh" aliens from Toy Story, aren't they?

So I signed when an inevitable sequel was announced...just more of the same. I'm just disappointed that more people are seeing this than are going to the big, fun-looking Lone Ranger.

[Bill1978]

I have to agree with everything James said in his review about this movie. It's a fun movie, but is lacking a 'Wow' factor. I would say it's not as good as the first one but I'm not disappointed in it. And I think it is because Gru is separated from the girls for a long time, so the care factor from the first one is missing.

What this movie did do is make me much more interested in the Minion movie that I was going into my viewing of Despicable Me 2. While I agree with Ben to a certain degree that they are just yellow versions of the Toy Story Aliens, there is just something fun about watching their antics and interactions with one another. They all seem to have unique personalities which is amazing. Of course whether I can tolerate them for 90 minutes straight is another matter.

While it was a fun venture into the cinema, it ranks below Epic for me. Which at the moment holds the title of Best Animated Film for 2013. OK OK I've only seen two this year but it still counts.

[Ben]

Oooh, Epic is that good? I've heard contrasting things but have otherwise not really seen anything new this year that has wowed me much.

I still have titles to catch up on BD from last year (Lorax, Guardians, Hotel Transylvania) but have all this year's titles on order and will likely pick-up DM2 too, just to see it.

[James]

Just noticed I never posted a review of Epic! I've found my notes so maybe once I'm caught up with everything else I can slip it in there.

We're off topic a bit, but here were my notes on Epic in case I put it off long enough to forget it:

very stilted dialogue
girl accepts being shrunk way too easily
odd musical number
stop motion-y feel
villain not scary
caterpillar doesn't fit style
overly simplistic plot
annoying voice on dad
good epilogue

Fun factor: 5
Overall film: 4