Starring Sandra Bullock and Jon Hamm. Rated G. Now playing

Minions could’ve been a good movie if they’d figured out what to do with these yellow scene-stealers from Despicable Me.

Some fun ideas went into the prologue, which has Geoffrey Rush narrating their evolution from tadpoles swimming in awe after big-toothed fish to hosting Dracula’s worst birthday party ever. The joke connecting these vignettes is that the Minions are bumblers, prone to getting their villains killed and then trudging off to find a new boss to serve.

But once we get to the main story set in 1968—a groovy era, good for colourful eye candy and hit songs—it’s the movie that loses its way and starts bumbling.

That’s when our Minion heroes—Kevin, Bob and Stuart (their vaguely Spanish gibberish is voiced by co-director Pierre Coffin)—meet Scarlett Overkill (Sandra Bullock), the world’s greatest villain. Except she’s not scary, not funny, and nowhere near as interesting as Despicable Me’s Gru. She just shrieks a lot, and what’s worse, all she wants is Queen Elizabeth’s crown so she can stick it to the mean girls from high school. Ugh—et tu, Sandra?

Her husband’s more fun, probably because Jon Hamm’s voicing the kind of swinger Don Draper would hate. But in their scramble for the crown, all the meaty questions go unexplored. Why do Minions want to be Minions? What—besides dumb luck—makes them remotely good at their job? Don’t any of them want to be a villain? How come they’re all male? And never die?

Kids will be content with the sight gags and silliness. The Minions are definitely less annoying than some other recent animated critters. But there’s not much to keep adults awake past the halfway mark.