I wouldn’t call myself the biggest fan of the Minions or Despicable Me movies, but they’ve entertained me plenty over the years. Since the yellow sidekicks kinda stepped out on their own, the spinoff franchise has explored their place in history, and that has routinely been the best thing about them. Not that they aren’t still funny, watching them act like buffoons in different eras is a real hoot. It’s the same with Minions & Monsters, which is genuinely hilarious only when the Minions are learning about the movie business in the Golden Age of cinema.
Being set in 1920, we’re talking about the silent movie era, which is perfect for the Minions who accidentally become Hollywood stars while trying to find a new evil master to serve. Stumbling upon a movie set where a Western flick is shooting, the Minions think the outlaw is the next big bad overlord. This follows a terrific disaster with a lumbering cyclops, a head-chopping debacle with a queen, a poor mummy that unspooled rather quickly, and an evil warlock who left behind a dangerous monster-summoning spellbook. But this is actually Hollywood, and the Minions fit right in as silent movie stars because they can bring the chaos without the need for dialogue.
Illumination has never been shy about making fun of itself, and one thing I love about Minions & Monsters is how the rampant merchandising and commercialism surrounding the newly famous Minions is a total self-own. However, the Minions can’t survive when movies start adding sound, because they speak gibberish that sounds like a bunch of languages run through a spaghetti maker. They are quickly fired and thrown out onto the street.
The real story kicks in when the focus shifts to James, the most creative Minion of the bunch. While the others are obsessed with finding a new boss, James just wants to tell stories. He takes to Hollywood like a Minion to a banana, learning from old school filmmaker Max (Christoph Waltz, in a rare non-villain role). Along with his pals Henry and Ed, James decides to make a monster movie. And since this is a Minions movie, what happens is that they summon real monsters that begin running loose throughout Tinseltown.
Minions & Monsters is at its best when James is learning the ropes, doing what he thinks is right to become a director. Movies about the making of movies are always cool, but it’s so unexpected to get that from this franchise. I like that it gives the Minions something to do that resembles an actual dream to achieve, not just blindly following others or causing destruction. It also offers the film plenty of funny celebrity gags, like a George Lucas cameo, and nods to the Golden Age of movies that feel like true showings of respect. I don’t know if the plan was for the soundstage setting to feel like those old Warner Bros. Animaniacs cartoons, but it does and it worked well for the brand of humor the Minions traffic in.
That said, the plot drags once the monsters start taking over, and the chaotic hijinks become more formulaic. Trey Parker voices the Cthulhu-esque creature, Goomi, who sounds like someone who would sell you hot watches under his trenchcoat. He’s a fun character, but his companions, including a jello-like eater of worlds, don’t amount to much. A weird subplot involving Dort (a frantic Jesse Eisenberg), a dorky alien robot with plans to rule the world, and his romance with suffragette Debbie (Zoey Deutch) seems like it was an idea from a completely different movie. What we get of it is pretty charming, because Dort is such a fish out of water, but I would’ve rather it been its own separate movie.
Fortunately, Minions & Monsters runs a brisk 90-minutes, and just as it’s wearing out its welcome, the finale is right around the corner. I still think the Minions are best as Gru’s support and not as the frontmen, but the gigantic box offices clearly put me in the minority. Hopefully, this isn’t the last we’ve seen of James, a character with heart and aspirations that could power Minions movies for years.
Universal Pictures releases Minions & Monsters in theaters July 1st.
