 The yellow sidekicks* from the two “Despicable Me” films take center stage in this film from directors Pierre Coffin and Kyle Balda. The film, written by Brian Lynch, stars the three minions seen auditioning* during the end credits of “Despicable Me 2:” Kevin, the leader of the gang, Bob, who’s still a child (or at least shorter than the others and always in need of a toy or pet), and one-eyed Stuart, who is taken along on Kevin’s expedition*. All three are voiced by Coffin, who co-directed the first two films as well. As narrator Geoffrey Rush explains at the beginning of the film, minions have been around for much longer than humans, eagerly serving baddies* wherever they can find them. Past masters include a T. rex, an evil pharaoh, Dracula and Napoleon. But since they’re in the habit of not doing things quite the way they should be done — and wreaking funny havoc* in the process — the minions end up exiled to Antarctica after Napoleon’s Russian campaign. After living in a cave for a few centuries, the minions become a depressed species — until Kevin finally decides to venture* out into the world again to look for a new bad guy to serve, and he takes Bob and Stuart on a trip to 1968 New York, where they — until then dressed in sheepskins for warmth — find their iconic dungarees*. Then, the three hitchhike* to Orlando, Florida in a car with a family of bank robbers (the parents are voiced by Michael Keaton and Allison Janney). It turns out they all are headed for Villain-Con, a secret gathering of baddies where the “world’s first female supervillain,” Scarlett Overkill (Sandra Bullock), puts on a show to find new henchmen*. What’s missing in this film is a development in characters, as the minions — like the proper sidekicks they are — never really learn or change, always getting caught in variations of the same situation. What is new here is a kind of photo-realism in the cityscape* backdrops, which are much more detailed and realistic than in previous films.(SD-Agencies) | 