The Minions - C+

Rated PG, 91 minutes

The bananas, I mean the minions, have finally arrived with their own enjoyable but uneven new animated flick "The Minions," after all but stealing the superior "Despicable Me" movies. It provides a clever new understanding of Comic Cons (called Villain Con here) and enough amusement for the family, even if you don't always know what the funny yellow fellows are saying. Evolving from single-celled yellow organisms Minions live to serve, but find themselves working for a continual series of unsuccessful masters, from T. Rex to Napoleon. Without a master to grovel for, the Minions fall into a deep depression. But one minion, Kevin, has a plan; accompanied by his pals Stuart and Bob, Kevin (all voiced by Pierre Coffin, who also co-directs) sets forth to find a new evil boss for his brethren to follow. Their search leads them to Scarlet Overkill (Sandra Bullock), the world's first-ever super-villainess. Co-directed by Coffin and Kyle Balda and written by Brian Lynch, the colorful, zany prequel of sorts, "The Minions" is the next big animated movie at the box-office, thanks to all the little yellow friends. After a sluggish first act telling the minions backstory and setting up their next adventure with Scarlet (well-voiced by Bullock, who seems to be having a great time here), once it becomes looser and more malleable in the second act, it picks up energy and there's some real laughs to be had, not to mention some well-integrated 60's tunes, including "Happy Together," "Got to Get You in My Life" and especially "Mello Yellow." It also has a stellar, though slightly overcrowded supporting voice cast, including Michael Keaton and Allison Janney as a bank-robbing pair who help escort the minion trio to their destination, along with Jon Hamm as Scarlet's inventor husband Herb. Yet it's Coffin's tiny yellow trio who gets in the lion's share of laughs including a nice bit with the Queen of England (Jennifer Saunders of "Shrek 2" fame) and a hilarious climax that will remind some moviegoers of the "Ghostbusters" Stay Puft Marshmallow Man. "The Minions" is a solid animated entry with enough merriment to keep the young ones engaged, and and while it's not quite as inspired as the "Despicable Me" movies, Gru's appearance at the end and over the credits proves that, it's certainly good for some funny moments.