’Minions & Monsters’ review: Creatures bring chaos to 1920s Hollywood

Even George Lucas loves the “Minions” movies, as his delightful cameo in the animated franchise’s latest entry confirms, and for good reason. As it turns out, the tiny, chattering, goggle-eyed, yellow creatures are cinema-obsessed geeks.

There won’t be a movie released in 2026 that demonstrates a love of films and the sanctity of the theatrical moviegoing experience more than “Minions & Monsters,” the third film in a series that is itself an offshoot of the four-film “Despicable Me” franchise. In this one, our heroes (voiced by director Pierre Coffin) conquer 1920s Hollywood, finding an industry well-suited to their brand of constant chaos.

The movie begins in the modern day, when Olivia (Allison Janney), a tour guide at a Hollywood history museum, leads a group of schoolchildren through a series of exhibits, which includes a forlorn Lucas encased in glass.

That the “Star Wars” creator seems trapped in his own creation might be part of the joke.

Then Olivia reveals the unsung heroes of the movie business, a pair of Minions named Ed and Henry, who helped steer the business in a crucial transition from the silent era to sound.

They are part of a group of Minions who arrive in Hollywood, randomly happen upon a film set, and wreak havoc for silent film director Max (Christoph Waltz). But when Max’s producers, the Bright Brothers (Jeff Bridges), love the footage, stars are born. Ed and Henry have creative ideas and seek to make a film of their own.

Charles Chaplin, Buster Keaton and Harold Lloyd all make appearances, references that will fly over children’s heads but might be appreciated by their parents. In this revisionist history, Orson Welles originally cast a Minion as the lead in “Citizen Kane,” but took over the role himself, apparently, after the little fellow couldn’t pronounce “Rosebud” in the famous death scene that opens the masterpiece.

“Oh, poop,” were the creature’s ad-libbed dying words.

Minions, of course, live to serve evil villains, last finding one in 1970s San Francisco in 2022’s “Minions: The Rise of Gru.” There are plenty of cinematic bad guys in Tinseltown to choose from, but those are actors, not the real deal.

That is, until they run into a robot alien, Dort (Jesse Eisenberg), who is eager to meet and learn from human beings but plans to conquer them, and ancient monsters, led by the seemingly friendly Goomi (Trey Parker), who have recently been freed from a curse.

“Minions & Monsters,” like all of the series, doesn’t have emotional depth or life lessons — these aren’t “Toy Story” movies after all — but that’s not their thing. Manic and breezily entertaining, it’s a fun ride, but even at 90 minutes, it feels overlong.

Like many of the genre films it parodies, there are third-act problems. However, its love of movies is infectious and often irresistible.