Photo Credit: Universal Pictures (via YouTube)
Everyone’s favorite yellow creatures are back for Minions & Monsters. After four Despicable Me movies and two spin-offs, the latest Minions movie takes us earlier than we’ve ever been in the timeline. Set before Minions and Minions: The Rise of Gru, this animated comedy follows a new tribe of Minions as they find themselves in Hollywood during the rise of the motion picture. Three of them, James, Henry, and Ed, end up deciding to make a monster movie of their own.
As someone with low expectations on the direction of this franchise after Despicable Me 4, I found myself very pleasantly surprised by Minions & Monsters. This is the best, funniest Minions movie yet, and it does a superb job of entertaining viewers, young and old. When you buy a ticket to a Minions film, you know you’re in for a bunch of fun slapstick antics with the Minions blabbering in a language that’s this odd amalgamation of English, Spanish, Mandarin, and anything else they can think of. To some, that can be irritating, and it hasn’t always worked, but it’s hard not to be charmed by this sweet film.
Minions & Monsters is a love letter to classic cinema. Sometimes, you can tell when a movie is being made by people who love movies. Here, we have a film that pays tribute to the birth of movies, going through the history with Minion-fied tributes to Eadweard Muybridge’s The Horse in Motion and Georges Méliès’s A Trip to the Moon. The movie once again continues the Minions’ quest to find a boss while also accidentally causing their bosses’ demise. They chase down a cowboy in an action set piece good enough to serve as the finale, which involves a train, a plane, and plenty of excitement. After crash-landing on a movie set and meeting director Max (Christoph Waltz), the Minions become Hollywood movie stars.
It’s really lovely to see how director Pierre Coffin, who also voices the Minions, pays homage to classic moments like Harold Lloyd’s clock stunt in Safety Last! and Buster Keaton’s falling house stunt in Steamboat Bill, Jr. With its references to famous silent film stars like Charlie Chaplin, this movie feels like the next step in the evolution of slapstick icons. Film/TV slapstick figures have evolved from Abbott and Costello to the Looney Tunes to Mr. Bean to the Minions. Instantly recognizable and endlessly entertaining to watch, there’s so much to enjoy about this film.
Part of the universal appeal of the Minions is that they don’t speak any one language, so they can be funny all over the world. That’s always been the appeal of these silent physical comedy stars, and in Minions & Monsters, they prove once again why the world has Minion fever. While the children in the audience likely won’t understand the references to Citizen Kane and Casablanca, this movie can serve as a gateway for younger viewers to experience some of the most well-known classics and the most historically significant films to ever grace the big screen. And they’ll be laughing too much at the antics to be confused.
The characters are a highlight. You don’t miss Bob, Kevin, and Stuart so much because Henry, James, and Ed are really wonderful. There’s a heartwarming friendship between Henry and James, and it’s one of the strongest elements of the film. James is a bit of an outcast sometimes, and they are led by a Minion named Dick, who is…well, a dick. Dick’s name is very intentionally an adult joke, and it adds a lot to have many little details that children won’t understand until they’re older.
James has such a passion for art and filmmaking. Some have compared him to Sammy Fabelman from The Fabelmans. It’s inspiring to see how much he loves what he does, and at its core, Minions & Monsters is about the magic of the movies. It’s about the work that goes into making a film and the ambition to dream big. There’s a line about how magical it is to watch a movie in a theater surrounded by so many people sharing a communal experience. It’s made by and for people who love movies, and we have something quite special as a result.
Trey Parker of South Park fame returns to the franchise after previously portraying Balthazar Bratt in Despicable Me 3. This time around, he plays Goomi, a cute green monster with nefarious intentions. Another fun addition is Jesse Eisenberg as Dort, an alien robot who wants to take over the world. He has a lot of fun in this role, which is an homage to Gort from The Day the Earth Stood Still. Zoey Deutch is a welcome addition, playing a love interest to Eisenberg’s character, a familiar dynamic for those who have seen Zombieland: Double Tap.
While the screenplay can never take itself seriously or have any strong enough emotional drama and conflict due to the nature of its immature leads, this is a hysterical, enjoyable film. It has tons of enjoyable action, and the narrative is simple, at one point going into two different directions, but always working well. Although none of the Minions movies are all-time greats in the animation genre, they’re sure to give children and adults an absolute bananas time at the movies.
SCORE: 7/10
As ComingSoon’s review policy explains, a score of 7 equates to “Good.” A successful piece of entertainment that is worth checking out, but it may not appeal to everyone.
Disclosure: ComingSoon attended a press screening for our Minions & Monsters review.
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