‘Minions: Rise of Gru’ amps up the little guys’ slapstick

The talkative Otto is front and center in “Minions: Rise of Gru.” (Universal Pictures)

For a not small segment of the audience for “Minions: Rise of Gru,” only one thing really needs to be said. The Minions are in it. That’s enough.

Now five films and 12 years into the “Despicable Me” series, the appeal of the bug-eyed, overalls-wearing, banana-yellow henchmen horde is overwhelming apparent. They have swarmed the planet like that human mob in “World War Z,” spreading a happy cartoon plague that long ago became endemic. The Minions are one of the great second-banana success stories.