The third Minions movie in the prequel series — Minions & Monsters — sees the return of Pierre Coffin, this time co-directed with Patrick Delage, taking us back to the 1920s. The Old Hollywood, to be exact, covering the silent and sound-film era. An interesting take to incorporate the chaotic yellow little creatures as part of the (alternate) Hollywood history, allowing Coffin and Delage to run riot with their zany ideas while referencing or paying homage to classic films.
This is especially true during the zippy first half, which opens with a present-day setting as the tour guide (Allison Janney) shows the children and parents while visiting the film history museum, highlighting various pop-culture figures and memorabilia from George Lucas to Keanu Reeves, Metropolis and Airplane! The Minions are part of the displays too, and this is where the tour guide starts to get everyone interested with her story of how James and Henry got involved in the golden era of Hollywood.
Told extensively in flashbacks, it begins with the Minions’ journey, led by the bossy Dick (voiced by Coffin), in search of a new evil master. And true to their accident-prone nature, they cause nothing but trouble serving different villains, from an ancient Cyclops to a medieval warlock and a sea pirate. Then comes the part where the Minions inadvertently stumble upon a Western movie set, and what follows is a series of madcap chases centred on an out-of-control, speeding train.
At one point, there’s a Safety Last! parody of Harold Lloyd famously dangling from the minute hand of a giant clock tower, showcasing the passion and appreciation for cinema that Coffin and Delage have injected into their movie. Lloyd isn’t the only one who’s been featured here, as movie fans would have a field day spotting iconic scenes from 1928’s Steamboat Bill, Jr. and 1936’s Modern Times, played by respective comedy legends Buster Keaton and Charlie Chaplin.
Anyway, for all the mess the Minions unexpectedly caused on the movie set, the Bright Brothers Pictures studio bosses (Jeff Bridges voiced both characters, Frank and Elwood) are somehow satisfied with the otherwise messed-up result of the footage. They even want their director Max (Christoph Waltz) to feature Minions in several upcoming film projects, including a Maltese Falcon-like 1940s hardboiled detective noir, complete with one of the mischievous yellow creatures playing Humphrey (an obvious nod to Humphrey Bogart).
The story proper actually centres on the creative storyteller James, who dreams of making his own monster movie with the help of his best friend, Henry, and their deaf companion Ed. After Max gifts them a precious film camera, all they need now is to find a monster to fulfil the project. And they finally find one, or so they thought, after summoning a giant green creature from a stolen book of spells that previously belonged to a warlock, only to realise it’s a small squishy monster named Goomi (Trey Parker).
The latter seems helpful, promising the three Minions to find the monsters they have been looking for. The second half, which splits between the three Minions and Goomi and Dick and the others serving their new master in the form of The Day the Earth Stood Still-like alien robot named Dort (Jesse Eisenberg), doesn’t quite reach the same creative heights seen in the earlier Old Hollywood-heavy scenes.
Still, the overall vibrant animation, coupled with its brisk 90-minute runtime, keeps me entertained. The all-hell-breaks-loose Minions vs. the gigantic gooey orange beast tearing the city apart features plenty of silly, action-packed moments. And I enjoy the meta ending too, and let’s just say Coffin and Delage are having a field day poking fun at the prequel series’ timeline. Don’t forget to stay put for a few mid-credits scenes.
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