Blu-ray

Loved by children everywhere, Gru's little yellow sidekicks from the Despicable Me cartoons have graduated to their own feature film.

Set during the swinging '60s, the film features an intrepid trio of Minions setting off to find a new evil master to serve in the days before Gru. They settle on up-and-coming female supervillain Scarlet Overkill (voiced by Sandra Bullock) who plans to steal the British crown. It'll come as no surprise to learn that things don't go exactly according to plan.

An improvement on 2013's Despicable Me 2, this spin-off is rather uneven (and 91 minutes of non-stop gibberish-talk will no doubt be too much for some), but at its best comes close to capturing the anarchic energy of the best Looney Tunes cartoons. Not a Pixar-style masterpiece then, but far better than it has any real right (or need) to be.
Movie rating: 3.5/5

Picture: As with the two Despicable Me movies, Minions lands on Blu-ray with reference-quality video. The AVC-encoded 1.85:1 1080p imagery offers a stunning masterclass in colour reproduction; the palette being bold and richly saturated at all times, supported by high contrast that helps it all pop from the screen. Sharpness and clarity are also first-rate, with the meticulous detailing lending the image a three-dimensional quality.
Picture rating: 5/5

Audio: The film's Dolby Atmos mix is expansive, manic and enjoyable, although it makes moderate use of the additional height in the soundfield. There are odd isolated effects that play across the upper speakers (the rocket accidentally fired at a police car in Chapter 4), for the most part the top channel is focused upon atmospheric effects: boosting the echoey applause during Scarlet Overkill's convention appearance (Chapter 6) and giving the score greater scale during the film's action-packed finale (Chapter 17).
Audio rating: 4.5/5

Extras: There's a wealth of behind-the-scenes goodies (including scene breakdowns, art galleries, interviews, storyboards, animatics, villain profiles and a set-top game) on the Blu-ray – providing you can actually be bothered to pick your way through the over-elaborate menus utilised in the Around the World Interactive Map and Behind the Goggles: The Illumination Story of the Minions sections of the disc.

Also included are two typically fun Minions animated shorts (Cro Minion and Competition), plus a short adventure for one of the film's supporting characters (Binky Nelson Unpacified). Finishing things off is a bonkers sing-along video of the Minions performing Jingle Bells.
Extras rating: 4/5

We say: Give this disc a spin for a fun mix of goofy gags, anarchic action and handsome hi-def visuals

Minions, Universal Pictures, All-region BD, £25 approx
HCC VERDICT: 4/5