Minions Review

All hail King Bob!!

I've seen my fair share of blockbusters this year and I'm looking forward to re-watching most of them when they come out on blu-ray, but Minions is the first film this year that I'd be happy to pay to see again at the cinema.  Telling the tale of how the villainous but lovable Minions came to work for Gru, Minions is laugh out loud fun from its prehistoric start right through to its despicable end.

 

Sandra Bullock, clearly relishing the opportunity to play delightfully over the top evil, brings the star power as Scarlett Overkill (and there’s a whole host of big names filling out the rest of cast) but it’s the Minions themselves (voiced by co-Director Pierre Coffin) who are the real stars.  They were perfectly cast as loveable little rogues in the Despicable Me films but by focusing its story on the journey of Kevin, Stuart and Bob as they travel the world searching for a new evil master, Minions manages to give each of its three heroes a unique voice and makes you care for them as individuals instead of just as comic relief, no easy task when they speak only a few words of English!  Bob is definitely my favourite Minion.  Right from his over enthusiastic entrance (“Pick me!”) he’s almost too lovable to be a villain yet he ends up unintentionally conquering England!

 

The jokes are great for kids and adults alike and you won’t stop laughing from the moment the Minions sing the Universal theme at the start right through to the crazy dance party at the end of the credits (it’s well worth staying for).  Like all the best family movies it doesn’t play down to the kids, in fact there’s several little touches that are aimed squarely at the adults in the audience (like the poster claiming “Nixon – Finally a President You Can Trust” when they first arrive in New York) but mostly it’s good old fashioned slapstick entertainment that everyone can enjoy.  There’s even a nod to geek culture as the Minions attend Villain Con.  I must have been the only comic geek in the audience as no one else laughed at the reference to Comic Con’s infamous Hall H but I totally loved it!

 

Minions is a film that could very easily have been too much of a good thing but instead it leaves you wanting even more Minions!  I could quite happily have watched a whole film of the Minions seeking a new master a Villain Con alone, and another showing more of the reign of King Bob.  It was simply brilliant family fun and I can’t wait to see it again.

Why it's Time for The Force Awakens to Reveal Some Secrets

Before anyone reads that title and gets worried I just want to say there are no spoilers in this post!  When I say "reveal some secrets" I'm talking about how the characters, specifically the legacy characters, will look in The Force Awakens.

At this point Star Wars: The Force Awakens is only 6 months away (and I get excited just typing that!).  The second teaser trailer at Celebration gave us our first look at Han Solo (Harrison Ford) and Chewbacca (Peter Mayhew) as well as extended looks at our new heroes Rey (Daisy Ridley), Finn (John Boyega) and Poe Dameron (Oscar Isaac) and new villains Kylo Ren (Adam Driver) and Captain Phasma (Gwendoline Christie).  And let's not forget everyone's favourite new droid BB-8!  Last month's Vanity Fair gave us an even better look at those characters along with a behind the scenes look at Lupita Nyong'o in the motion capture suit that she's using to help bring the pirate Maz Kanata to life.  And then StarWars.com revealed one final photo - Andy Serkis, in motion capture gear like Lupita, and named him as Supreme Leader Snoke, presumably the leader of The First Order.

Looked at like that it's been an incredibly busy few months with more than enough reveals made to see us through to next month's San Diego Comic Con.  Especially with Rebels returning this month, Disney Infinity 3.0 Star Wars Edition being fully revealed and this week's E3 bringing more news on the highly anticipated Battlefront and a new expansion for The Old Republic!

Sadly that was not the case.  Hasbro's 6 inch First Order Stormtrooper hit E-Bbay ahead of the official announcement that the first The Force Awakens action figure would be available at SDCC.  Then the real leaks started.  First a travel mug was found in Mexico that reportedly showed C-3PO's new look for the film.  Then, just yesterday, a first look at Carrie Fisher's Princess Leia leaked as well.

Hasbro's Stormtrooper hitting E-Bay probably isn't too surprising when you consider that the toys take roughly a year from concept to store and an image of prototypes for Rey, Finn, BB-8, Kylo Ren and Chewbacca already appeared online at the end of last year.  But the travel mug find and especially yesterday's leaked first look at Leia really got me thinking.  How much longer can Disney keep things secret?

Now, I'm not referring to plot details, those should be kept secret until the film's release and I applaud Lucasfilm and Del Rey's decision to limit the novel adaptation's release to digital until early next year.  In fact, I'd be more than happy for them not to release any type of synopsis before the film opens.  But the looks of major characters?  I think it's time for those to be revealed, especially legacy characters such as Luke, Leia and C-3PO who will be all over merchandise in just a few short months.  As long as revealing them doesn't reveal any spoilers for the plot then I can't see any reason to keep them hidden any longer.  I mean, sure Disney/Lucasfilm probably have a well planned publicity schedule for the film, but with leaks coming more frequently now maybe it's time for them to try and get ahead and do some big reveals of their own.

It's already been announced that The Force Awakens is going to SDCC next month with a special panel in Hall H on Friday 10th July and Hasbro set to make "a special product reveal" at their panel that same day.  With Ant-Man in cinemas later that month and Entertainment Weekly confirming that Hasbro will debut the first wave of toys at SDCC it seems extremely likely that Comic Con will be the place where we get the first full trailer for The Force Awakens and with it our first official look at Luke Skywalker and the remaining legacy characters.  At least I hope it is.  I would hate for The Force Awakens panel not to show Luke and Leia and then for Hasbro to reveal their action figures.  Or for both panels to avoid officially revealing them only for them to leak again.

The truth is, I can't see them waiting any longer than Comic Con either.  The merchandising onslaught of #ForceFriday will be less than 2 months away by the time Comic Con hits and you can bet things will start appearing on E-Bay in August or maybe even earlier.  Comic Con really is their last big, high profile, chance to debut the remaining legacy characters before the merchandise reaches stores.

Whenever Disney/Lucasfilm choose to make the reveal I just hope it's sooner rather than later.  Personally, I've avoided the leaked images of C-3PO and Princess Leia but I can completely understand why fans want to see them.  I feel like I've waited this long, I can wait a bit longer.  I really don't want my first look at these characters to be a grainy screen shot.  But the closer we get to the film the more likely these leaks are and the less impact the official reveal will have.  I hope we get another moment as memorable as "Chewie, we're home." from SDCC.  I guess we'll just have to wait and see.

Fun in Manchester

I've been neglecting this blog for the last month as things got extremely busy but that ends now!  May might have been crazily busy for me but I still managed to have a fantastic day out in Manchester at the end of the month.

My wife loves cute things.  Like completely LOVES them!  So it's no surprise that she loves the Minions (and to be fair, who doesn't?).  When she learnt that Kevin, Stuart and her new favourite Bob were coming to Manchester as part of Capital FM's #MinionsOnTour ahead of The Minions movie, well there was no question we were going.

So we turned up in Piccadilly Gardens just after lunch and I'll admit I was expecting it to be absolutely heaving but instead there was barely any line next to the Minions tour bus.  A guy from Capital FM came over and told us that the Minions were having a little break and would be back soon.  Then he saw that Jane was wearing a Minions t-shirt and had a Build-A-Bear Minion Bob with her and told her that she'd won a Minions suitcase!!  Just like that!  Turns out that the first two people in line wearing Minions stuff at every time slot won!  And it wasn't just a suitcase!  The case itself was stuffed full of Minions goodies from beach balls to an umbrella!  Considering we'd just come out for a laugh and a quick photo it was a fantastic bonus!

The meet and greet itself was over extremely quickly but we got some good pictures and the Capital FM staff used our phones to take them, there was no trying to sell you a picture for an obscene amount of money so that was nice.  And Jane loved it, for me that was the most important thing.

After leaving the Minions we decided to head for the Manchester Film and Comic Con at Event City.  By this point it was gone two and to be honest I didn't think we'd get in.  I have nightmarish memories of last November's MCM Comic Con in Birmingham where we queued for close to 3 hours just to get in the door and then could hardly move as the hall was that crowded.  It wasn't exactly a fun experience, in fact I'd probably call it one of the worst I can remember and I've been going the Birmingham Comic Con/Memorabilia show since the Star Wars Special Editions came out!  I have fond memories of meeting so many stars there, with Star Wars' Anthony Daniels, Kenny Baker and Ray Park and Smallville's John Schneider being some personal favourites, and of spending way too much on things you just couldn't find in UK stores, but last year's event was just insanely busy.  It'd been steadily getting busier for the last few years but I'd never seen it like that before.  As fans we live in a golden age of comic book movies and TV shows, the things we love are no longer niche, they're main stream.  It's an incredible time to be a geek (and I use that term affectionately), but standing in that queue my friends and I all agreed - we missed being geeks before it was cool.  When you could just walk up, pay on the door and walk in without even thinking about having to queue.

Imagine my surprise then when we turned up at Event City and were able to just walk straight in the door.  No queuing for hours, just walk up, pay and walk in.  Inside was the same.  There were plenty of people in the hall but it wasn't congested.  We were able to walk freely through the aisles.  After my karate grading last month I treated myself to an Ultrasaber and, being the big kid I am, I decided to take it with me to the con.  I didn't have a costume (next time...) but it felt fun just carrying it around.  I even had the space to give it a few spins (something I couldn't have done at the MCM Comic Con without hitting at least half a dozen people).

I ended up not actually buying anything (good job really as Jane borrowed all of my cash for her purchases) but it was great to meet a few fellow ultrasaber owners.  As we smiled at each other and raised our lightsabers in salute across the aisles it felt like being part of a special society.  And seeing some of the amazing Jedi and Sith costumes walking around I definitely want to get a costume in time for The Force Awakens.  But the highlight of my afternoon was when a little kid waved his lightsaber at me, beckoning me for a duel.  I playfully tapped his lightsaber a few times before offering him mind to hold.  I'm not sure who was happier, the boy or his father, as they both hold the saber with pure joy on their faces.

Yeah, May might have been a really busy month for me, but this day was a fantastic way to end it.