After four Despicable Me movies and two Minions movies, I admittedly didn’t think that this flagship franchise from Illumination Animation had a lot of steam left. There’s only so much slapstick comedy and Minion gibberish that carry a single film, and the first Minions films released in 2015 showed the cracks pretty early on. Granted, the second Minions film, The Rise of Gru, was actually pretty decent, serving as both an origin story for Despicable Me’s protagonist, Gru, and a well executed 70s period piece that highlighted the best aspects of the era. However, I was curious as to where this franchise could possibly go from there and I was met with a pleasant surprise. Minions & Monsters continues the trend of placing Minions within a certain past time period in history, this time placing them in 1920s Hollywood. The story mostly follows a Minion named James and his aspiration to become a filmmaker, summoning a group of dangerous monsters to make that happen. Of course this film had no shortage of slapstick comedy and Minion gibberish. However, those aspects were accompanied by some pretty impressive animation providing a visual aesthetic that surprisingly stayed true to the dazzling and political landscape of 1920s Hollywood and a narrative that was a love letter to the art of filmmaking. I was absolutely floored by the amount of detail and the dedication to Hollywood history that went into this particular Minions installment. Throughout the film, there were references to iconic Hollywood actors and filmmakers from George Lucas and Keanu Reeves to Buster Keaton and Charlie Chaplin, there were many instances that paid homage to different genres of film and styles of filmmaking, and this film in general was just a lot more enjoyable to watch compared to the usual Minions fare thanks to some entertaining supporting characters and well-written comedic bits. As a film nerd myself, Minions & Monsters was an absolute joy to watch, and anyone looking for either another fun Minions adventure or an entertaining filmmaking history lesson will find what they’re looking for here. Score: 8/10
Noah Robinson 