Bow down to our adorable little overlords, because the Minions are back, and it’s so much fun that they make us forget they’re actually kinda on the side of evil. And that the romp Minions & Monsters is actually yet another sequel to a prequel to a franchise that has spun off a franchise of its own and this is actually a prequel to the sequel.
No need to pause for breath though, because along with all the plots and the usual misunderstood outsider plotlines and predictable betrayals is a tribute to Golden Age Hollywood, filmmaking, and creativity itself. And hilarious visual gags. It’s not Pixar, but in this current age, perhaps anything that’s not trying to be Disney or any of its offshoots or the companies they’ve swallowed may simply earn extra points simply for…being itself? My critical heart quakes at the thought.
But back to the actual fun that the little yellow monstrosities bring, along with the potentially fatal complications that they often inadvertently cause to anyone who takes them on as sidekicks. As they cycle through various ancient and medieval Big Bads, Minions & Monsters takes them on something of a side quest by pairing them up with the ultimate distraction: the film industry.
Kicking off their film career with a literal train wreck through 1920s Los Angeles, the studio brings the footage of that fiasco to the adoring masses, resulting in fame and fortune…at least until sound arrives on the scene. And that seems to be it for the Minions, as they go from being a hot property to yesterday’s news, quickly losing their mansion, their money, and their show biz careers.
No surprise there; since this Looney Tunes-style slapstick delight made no secret of its plot, pretty much giving away its entire premise from the beginning. The real shocker is how much there is to enjoy. For a series that hinges on lumping an entire group together (all voiced by Pierre Coffin), it’s one of the more individualistic entries, giving its attention to a central trio that includes James, the misunderstood creative artist, Henry, his bff who appreciates his humor and talent, and Ed, something of a fellow outlier due to being somewhat hard of hearing.
James is the one who has ambitions beyond finding the next boss to serve, and even attempts to recapture his place in Hollywood by trying to make a movie himself, unthinkingly conjuring up a monster - ah, those pesky budgetary restrictions - while the rest of the group places their hopes in Dort (Jesse Eisenberg), a would-be villain with dubious claims to being an alien invasion of one. Yet even he gets a sweet character arc that becomes surprisingly progressive after he bonds with a suffragette due to his belief that men and women are equally deserving of extraterrestrial domination.
Clocking in at a refreshingly compact 90 minutes, Minions and Monsters is a zany, laugh-out-loud family romp that doesn’t require cinephile credentials, but will nevertheless have enough tributes to old and new that everyone will be able to enjoy, even if some recognition will be limited to George Lucas showing up to voice himself as a literal hostage to film history. Of course, since this is for the kids, the little guys still have to show up on the side of good by the end, but chances are no one will mind cheering for them in a movie that saves all its surprises for its visual creativity.
Grade: A-