PLOT: Follows the Minions in 1920s Hollywood as they search for frightening creatures for their monster movie, partner with a green creature, and must save the planet after unleashing monsters
REVIEW: I should probably start by saying that Illumination movies usually aren’t for me. The studio is obviously loved by a massive audience. The box office receipts don’t lie. But I’ve only found a couple of their films to be genuinely great. The first Despicable Me still works beautifully. Sing really surprised me. And I’ll admit I had a blast with The Super Mario Galaxy Movie. But when it comes to the Despicable Me franchise, the thing that made that original film so special was Gru.
The Minions, on the other hand, were never really my thing. Whenever they would pop up onscreen to shout “Illumination!” before a movie, it always felt like nails on a chalkboard. They were cute in small doses, sure. But an entire movie built around their chaos never sounded like something I needed.
So did the Minions’ latest outing continue that trend? Or did Minions and Monsters finally win me over?
The story takes the Minions back to 1920s Hollywood. They accidentally end up in the movie business and somehow become silent-film stars. At first, it works perfectly. Naturally, they don’t need dialogue. They just need movement, destruction, and a camera pointed at them. Suddenly, Minion-mania takes over. There’s even Minion merchandise, which feels like a joke aimed directly at the franchise itself. But once Hollywood starts moving into sound, Minionese doesn’t exactly translate to the studio’s liking. Their fall from fame sends them off on their own.
That’s also where the movie finds a surprisingly effective hook through James. He’s the one Minion who really catches the Hollywood bug. He’s not just another little yellow weirdo looking for the next evil boss to follow, like his buddies. James develops a real passion for making movies. When no one else wants them anymore, he decides they should make a film on their own. Of course, because this is a Minions movie, that dream eventually leads to actual monsters being unleashed. But giving James a personal goal makes the madness feel more connected than usual.
What really surprised me is that Minions and Monsters checks a bunch of boxes for the kind of movies I love. I’m a sucker for movies about making movies. Bowfinger is still the king of that hill for me. I love stories set during the golden age of Hollywood. I love old studio backlots. And I love anything that captures that madcap Looney Tunes style when it’s done right. Somehow, this movie hits all of that.
The Hollywood setting is the smartest choice the movie makes. Silent movies already run on big reactions and physical comedy. So the Minions fit right in. Throw in studio backlots, monster pictures, and Hollywood egos, and their whole routine makes way more sense than it usually does. It also means we don’t get a bunch of out-of-place pop music. Animated movies sometimes feel obligated to do that. Instead, this one leans into a whimsical, old-timey Hollywood score that instantly sets the mood.
That style works hand in hand with the film’s pacing. The sight gags come fast. The explosions are constant. And the whole thing has this frantic, ridiculous Looney Tunes quality. The studio lot in the movie even feels a lot like the Warner Bros. lot. That includes the WB initials attached to the studio bosses, which feels like a pretty intentional wink.
The voice cast is also doing strong work here. Christoph Waltz is great as Max, an old-school filmmaker who inspires James and Henry. Jesse Eisenberg brings the right nervous quality to Dort, a supposedly alien robot who clearly has more going on. Zoey Deutch is also a lot of fun as Debbie. She gives the movie a little more snap whenever she shows up. None of them feel like they’re trying to make the material bigger than it needs to be.
But the MVP of the whole thing is Trey Parker as Goomi, the monster at the center of the story. Parker is genuinely hilarious here. Every time the movie starts to drift into more familiar animated sequel territory, he pops back in and gets a laugh. Goomi could have easily just been a big goofy creature. Instead, Parker gives him this strange comic personality that fits perfectly with the movie’s old-school monster-movie silliness.
The third act is where Minions and Monsters does start to become more formulaic. The monster mayhem gets bigger. The action ramps up. And the movie starts to feel a little more like a standard animated finale. It’s not bad. But it does lose some of that fresh “Minions invade old Hollywood” charm that makes the first half so much fun.
Still, the movie moves so quickly that it never becomes a major issue. At a brisk 90 minutes, Minions and Monsters doesn’t overstay its welcome. By the time I realized the story was becoming more predictable, Parker was making me laugh again. Another sight gag was landing, andhe movie was already close to the finish line.
I still don’t know that I’d call myself a Minions fan. Let’s not get crazy. But Minions and Monsters is the first movie built around them where I fully understood the appeal. It’s fast, funny, charming, and way more clever than I expected.
I can’t believe I’m saying this, but Minions and Monsters is the best the Despicable Me franchise has ever been. It finally gives the Minions a setting that fits them. It gives them a monster-movie story that keeps things moving. And in James, it even gives them a little bit of heart.
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