I got tired of this joke before the movie ended, but I appreciate the gusto with which the filmmakers -- particularly Coffin, with his nimble vocalizations -- carried it out.

With its episodic stream of slapstick gags, Minions has moments of piquant absurdity, but mostly its shrill-but-cutesy anarchy works as a visual sugar rush for the preschool set.

Fittingly, because they're pill-shaped, the Minions work best in small doses.

There's plenty of high-velocity comic inanity on display to keep kids happily diverted. But the movie's major flaw is an extension of its own premise: Search as they may, the minions never find a villain worthy of their subservience.

It's not whether this prequel can mint money; that's a given. The questions is: Can the minions carry a movie all by their mischievous mini-selves? 'Fraid not.