Movie Review: ‘Minions & Monsters’

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What if the Minions made a movie?

That is the basic premise of Minions and Monsters. It is a tribute to the origins of Hollywood told with a Minions twist, and the typical Minions chaos takes the story in a variety of directions as it celebrates the cinematic theater experience. I am not sure the target demographic will understand all the Old Hollywood references, but there is plenty of humor for all ages to enjoy and classic cinema fans will love all the references that may take multiple viewings to fully catch.

Prior knowledge of the Minions/Despicable Me franchise is not required for this movie. New characters are introduced quickly and there is virtually no connection to the previous movies other than the fact that they are Minions. There is also a narrator in the form of a tour guide, played by the always entertaining Allison Janney, that quickly reintroduces the Minions for new audiences. Trying to mentally connect the story to the previous entries nearly had my eyes rolling until the final scene when a twist basically forgives any potential plot holes (not going to directly spoil it except to say it reminded me of Looney Tunes: Back in Action, among other films).

The film primary follows three new Minions amongst a new group of Minions. James is an artistic Minion that likes to draw and gets drawn into the alure of Hollywood (once they hit the early 1900’s). Henry and Ed become his closest friends while the other Minions focus on their typical goal of finding an evil boss to serve, often failing in humorous ways in part because of James, Henry, and/or Ed. I am not sure how much time passes as the Minions are shown trying to serve, among others, a giant ogre and a warlock before stumbling into a Hollywood production and being hired by a production studio that see huge potential, until the invention of the “Talkies” kills their silent film career (which I heard happened to a lot of silent film stars). At which point, the trio break off to try to create their own movie, Minions and Monsters, while the others move on looking for a new boss. The trio then summon a monster using the warlock’s spell book to help with the movie, but the monster has plans to concur the world.

I enjoyed the movie. I thought the story was fun and interesting. I loved the voice actors, the beautiful animation, and the overall tribute to Hollywood and the theater going experience. Only downside in my eyes, while they were cute and mildly humorous, I found most of the jokes predictable and they barely elicited more than a chuckle from me. That being said, I would say it is one of the better stand alone entries in the Minions franchise and would recommend to all audiences.