Minions (2015)

Thanks to the recent release of Despicable Me 4, I was able to buy a bundle of animated movies that included the previous Despicable Me movies and, of course, the Minions movies. And I am happy with that purchase. Because I am a grown man who often enjoys the fun and anarchy of animated movies like these ones.

I had previously seen both Despicable Me and Despicable Me 2, but that's where my time with Gru and the gang had stalled. Thankfully, recent rewatches of both of those movies made me all the more eager to work my way through the rest of the franchise.

Minions is a quick overview of the little trouble-makers who now seem to remain solely employed by Gru. That wasn't always the case though, and a narrator (Geoffrey Rush) gives us a selection of people that the minions have tried to help over the years. We then get to see our lead minions (Stuart, Kevin, and Bob) get involved with the nefarious Scarlet Overkill (Sandra Bullock) and her husband, Herb (Jon Hamm). This kickstarts a chain of events that leads to Scarlet eventually dethroning the Queen of England (Jennifer Saunders). But is that a result that the minions are happy with, and will they ever be given proper courtesy and recognition from Scarlet?

Co-directed by Kyle Balda and Pierre Coffin (aka the voice of the minions), this is a fun animated feature that fits nicely in the franchise. Arguably a bit sillier, and a bit more fun, than the two movies that preceded it, writer Brian Lynch knows how to string together various set-pieces to give fans of our little yellow beings exactly what they want to see. The minions aren't actually malicious, nor are they rarely fully aware of any danger around them, and this keeps them as endearing mischief-makers, although the third act allows them to start worrying about their ultimate fate at the hands of a ticked-off super-villain.

Coffin is as entertaining as ever while voicing the titular characters, but both Bullock and Hamm are also a lot of fun. The former is so good that it makes me wish she would get involved with more animated movies that could benefit from her vocal talent. There are also fun turns from Steve Coogan, Michael Keaton, Allison Janney, the aforementioned Rush and Saunders, and one or two others (including an obligatory cameo from Steve Carell).

Whether you enjoy the spectacle, enjoy the amusing way in which the plot careens from one act of villainy to the next, or just enjoy hearing minions blurt out words like "banana", Minions should make you smile and laugh for almost every moment of the 91-minute runtime. The minions may not be big, and they may not be clever, but they're wonderfully entertaining to watch. I'm looking forward to getting through the rest of the movies in this series very soon.

8/10

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Chuck Steel: Night Of The Trampires (2021)

If you have a fondness for the excess of ‘80s action movies, if you spent all your years since seeing Cobra dying to one day use a pair of scissors to cut up your pizza, if you think character development is best shown through varying degrees of stubble, then have I got a treat for you. Chuck Steel: Night Of The Trampires is a stop-motion animated feature that throws around bucketloads of gore, a lot of fun character designs, and pretty much every action movie cliché you could think of. And I loved it.

Unable to keep a partner alive for more than a day, or often just a few hours, Chuck Steel is your typical tough cop who gets results. It all comes at a price though. The nightmares, the lost loved one, the destroyed TV sets every time a news item has him reaching for his gun. But worse things than standard criminal scum are out on the streets now. There are vampires who feed on victims they first get as drunk as possible. Given information about these creatures from the elderly Van Rental, Chuck ends up on a mission to put an end to this race of sharp-toothed, bloodsucking denizens of the dark alleyways and dumpsters. After all, he is the chosen one. Isn’t he?

It takes a team of people to make a movie, I know and understand that, but the many hats worn here by writer-director-actor Mike Mort makes me feel very much at ease in giving him most of the credit for this film, an affectionate spoof of movies that will hit the sweet spot for movie fans of a certain generation (born in the ‘70s/early ‘80s and being able to enjoy the excessive testosterone of the big action movie stars of the big screen while also discovering the pleasures of much lower-budget fare that went straight to VHS). I was hoping to enjoy this, but was surprised by just how much I ended up loving it.

There are things to pick at, including a grand finale that feels bit overlong and overdone (and a bit too reminiscent of a classic Peter Jackson splatterfest, but maybe that it just me), as well as the constant barrage of lowbrow gags occasionally striking the wrong note, but what this gets right . . . it gets way more right than you would think possible. Think Brooklyn 99 mixed with every Dirty Harry movie, and then add a dash of Blade, and you’re close.

Part of me just wants to write down my favourite gags here - the partner who has shot himself, the way Chuck calls someone a lesbian after spending a minute having his advances rebuffed, the many wonderful visual gags - but I know that does not a proper review make. So I will start to praise the stellar voice cast instead.

Oh, the voice cast is headed up by Mike Mort, of course. There’s also a prime role for Jennifer Saunders, and Paul Whitehouse has a supporting role, and a few other people who help out, but the best work is done by Mort, voicing Chuck, Chuck’s boss, and Van Rental, as well as a few others. It is testament to the talent of Mort that I didn’t figure out just how many of the main characters he voiced, and I am as sickened by his talent as I am in awe of it.

The soundtrack works, the plotting is wonderfully on point, but with some great twists to main plot points, and I have to emphasise that the level of animation on display here is absolutely gorgeous, from the craftsmanship of every element to the visual gags scattered throughout every main scene. This is near-perfect, and I genuinely have no idea why I haven’t seen more people rave about it since it enjoyed a warm reception on the festival circuit a few years ago.

It should be available digitally to many people by now, and it certainly is here in the UK, although I have also just bought a special edition bluray to support Mort and co. Check here for a further taster of the film. And then go Chuck yourself.

9/10

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