# Minions 3D - Blu-ray Review



## Mike Edwards (Mar 10, 2011)

[img]http://www.hometheatershack.com/gallery/file.php?n=60889[/img] 
*Title: Minions 3D* 

*Movie:* :3stars:
*Video:* :5stars:
*3D:* :4.5stars:
*Audio:* :5stars: 
*Extras:* :2.5stars: 

*HTS Overall Score:*87




[img]http://www.hometheatershack.com/gallery/file.php?n=60897[/img]*Summary*
BANANA!!!! What is the biggest draw of the “Despicable Me” movies? Yes, we all know that answer without having to think. Minion! The little yellow, mumbo jumbo spouting balls of cuteness have wooed audiences around the world and made a decent movie into a blast. After two successful outings the fans have been clamoring for more and more minions to the point where they have almost gained a cult following. As with anything that makes tons of money and with the focus on the little yellow munchkins, Universal has decided to grace us with a spin off movie, much like “Penguins of Madagascar” was for the “Madagascar” series. Unfortunately it followed in “Penguins” footsteps, as we learned that sometimes the funniest things are good in smaller doses. Given their own feature length film the Minions have proven that little mantra by being a bit too stretched out and long even at a light 91 minutes of runtime. It’s still got some charm and fun, but the side splitting humor is gone once they take the main stage and overstay their welcome just a tad. 

Back before Gru, before we know the minions of evil (or at least minions of stupidity) the minions had a bit of a rough time. They had been around for thousands of years, craving to find a boss that was evil enough for them. The only problem when they found a boss was that they MAY speed up said bosses demise. From dinosaurs, to prehistoric men, to snowmen, to Napoleon himself, the minions flitted from one horrific experience to another as their exuberance to help ends up killing or otherwise incapacitating their princes of darkness. After blowing Napoleon up with a cannon, the minions are chased out of his ranks and into the frozen north, where they try to live for themselves for once. Things seem to be going ok, only for time to take its toll on them. The sweetness of freedom turns to ash in their mouth as boredom and lack of purpose set in.

Intent on fixing their problem, a lone minion by the name of Kevin rises to the occasion. Taking little bob and dreamer Stuart with him, Kevin marches out into the world to find their new villain boss! Traveling to the U.S.A. the trio are soon spun around on a whirlwind adventure that leads them straight to Villain Con, the biggest villain convention in the world down in sunny Orlando Florida. There they stumble upon the world’s greatest super villainess, Scarlett Overkill (Sandra Bullock), who brings the minions into her detail in order to steal the crown of England. The minions are of course overjoyed to be given the opportunity and end up stealing the crown. Only thing is that Scarlett has a few plans of her own that may not be so nice, and soon turn into a conflict of interest as Bob gets a little more notoriety than he expected. 

[img]http://www.hometheatershack.com/gallery/file.php?n=60905[/img]
“Minions” is a light and fluffy film, but one that just runs a bit too long. The first act actually starts out great, with a wonderfully funny introduction to the little loveable yellow curmudgeons, leading up to their self-made isolation in the great white north. Traveling to the U.S.A. and getting involved with Scarlett is tantalizing and a blast, but in the second act things START to lose steam. Some of the jokes start to wear a bit thing, as their sporadic and spastic humor in the “Despicable Me” films seems to work best in smaller doses. The same jokes and inane babbling of the minions can only go on for so long before it becomes repetitious. Once Bob becomes Kind of England, the movie slows to a painful crawl as there just doesn’t seem to be enough plot to make it. Scarlett Overkill’s eventual betrayal into a villain that even the minions don’t want to be a part of seems forced and rather unfunny. It’s not that it’s tragic, or that drama isn’t warranted, but that it just doesn’t mesh with the happy go lucky first act or so. 

A little too generic and blasé, “Minions” struggles as there really are a shortage of actors on stage. The minions may be voiced by real people, but their gibberish leaves them more mimes than anything else and the physical gags can only go so far. Sandra Bullock is good as Scarlett, but somehow manages to never really MAKE you believe that she’s the most evil villain on Earth. Gru was a goofy villain who we never truly believed was despicable, but the empowered female villain is supposed to embody the total package of TRUE evil. Sandra seems more cute than she does villainous, which has been something she’s struggled her whole career with (and many times that’s NOT a bad thing). Jon Hamm as her husband Herb is the closest thing to a really relatable character and he thankfully he interjects a lot of humor into the film to make up for the waning chuckles that the minions were getting at that point in the film. 




*Rating:* 

Rated PG for action and rude humor



*Video* :5stars:
[img]http://www.hometheatershack.com/gallery/file.php?n=60913[/img]“Minion’s” 1.85:1 AVC encoded Blu-ray image looks SPECTACULAR in high definition. Straight from the digital tap, the film is awash with bright colors, fantastic detail and wonderful blacks all the way around. From the moment the film starts we are privy to shiny primary colors, with lots of yellows, oranges and other sundry colors making themselves known. The saturation levels are nice and heavy, with a beautiful richness to them. Fine detail is amazing as one would expect for a modern digital film, and you can see every line and curve on the simplistically drawn minions, and exquisite detailing on the surrounding scape. Scarlett Overkill’s rocket dress is wonderfully drawn, with tons of little detailing on the dress itself. Blacks are deep and inky, without sing of crush or washing out, and the shadow detail is to die for. At 91 minutes the film is short enough to evade any compression issues and the film looks about as perfect as you can possibly get. 






*3D* :4.5stars:
The 3D transfer for “Minions” manages to keep up with the 2D image and looks almost as spectacular. The image maintains a strong amount of brightness and doesn’t look washed out or suffer from any ghosting or crosstalk (which my display tends to be sensitive towards). Layering and depth are amazing and while the movie has some good pop to the 3D, I never noticed a blatant 3D gimmick shot (you know, the ones that pop straight out of the screen at your) and while there’s a bit of a hazy look at times, it never detracts from the viewing unless you’re REALLY paying close attention. I’m always a bit picky about my 3D movies, as I always find something to really nitpick over, but “Minions” in 3D is as close to perfect as I’ve seen in a while.




*Audio* :5stars:
[img]http://www.hometheatershack.com/gallery/file.php?n=60921[/img]Another in a growing list of titles, “Minions” get a nice Atmos track for all of you with advanced receivers and speaker setups, while retaining a 7.1 TrueHD core for those of us who aren’t as cutting edge. Beginning to end the Atmos track is a stunner, with a bombastic feel to it that throbs with power. LFE is tight and puncy, adding some massive and deep wallops to the action, but isn’t as aggressive or overpowering as an action film. Don’t get me wrong, the power is there in spades as Scarlett’s ship taking off, or Giant Bob crashing through England results in some serious low frequency emissions. It’s just a subtle and more restrained track than one that doesn’t allow the bass to let up. Dialog is strong and clear, without any inconsistences that I could detect and balances well with the rest of the track. Surrounds are almost always in use, ranging from little sounds like the minions footsteps crunching on snow, to the roar of the aforementioned jet hurtling form one side of the screen to another. Atmos tracks seem to get a lot of attention during the mixing process, resulting in some fantastic experiences, and “Minions is no different. 









*Extras* :2.5stars:
[img]http://www.hometheatershack.com/gallery/file.php?n=60929[/img]
• Mini Movies
- CroMinion
- Competition
- Binky Nelson Unpacified
• Delete Scene
• Around the World Interactive Map
• Behind the Goggles -- The Illumination Story of The Minions 
- Writers
- The Boss' Office
- Art Department
- Recording Studio
- The Break room
• Jingle Bells Minions Style
• The Secret Life of Pets -- Summer 2016










*Overall:* :4stars:

“Minions” took a lot of risk stepping out on their own from the shade of “Despicable Me” and is unfortunately met with mixed results. The humor is cute, the minions are adorable and the film starts out very strong. The problem is that it just can’t seem to hold that quick pace and soon fades into mediocrity thanks to overstaying their proverbial welcome. I adore the minions, and really wanted this one to succeed, but both theatrically and in this viewing I have to come to the conclusion that some things are best kept as side plots/characters instead of becoming the main attraction. The audio and video are STUNNING, and there’s a decent set of extras, so at the very least it’s worth a good rental, unless you’re a super big fan of the little minions, which may warrant a purchase. 



*Additional Information:*

Starring: Jon Hamm, Michael Keaton, Sandra Bullock
Directed by: Kyle Balda, Pierre Coffin
Written by: Brian Lynch 
Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1 AVC
Audio: English: Dolby Atmos (7.1 TrueHD core) French, Spanish DD 5.1
Studio: Universal
Rated: PG
Runtime: 91 Minutes 
Blu-ray Release Date: December 8th 2015


*Buy Minions 3D Blu-ray on Amazon*
*Buy Minions 2D Blu-ray on Amazon*



*Recommendation: Rental​*







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## JBrax (Oct 13, 2011)

Thanks for the review Mike. Based on your positive praise of both the audio and video this is a no doubt rental for me. I'm perfectly content forking over $3.00 for the first half before the act slows.


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## Mike Edwards (Mar 10, 2011)

JBrax said:


> Thanks for the review Mike. Based on your positive praise of both the audio and video this is a no doubt rental for me. I'm perfectly content forking over $3.00 for the first half before the act slows.


it's a decent enough movie, but as I said, it stretches the premise of the cute side characters too long as they work better not being the main characters.


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