By Dan Skip Allen

The Minions have been in three of their own prequel movies and four Despicable Me franchise films combined for seven total times they’ve been on the big screen in this universe. Illumination has made a lot of money off of these little yellow lackeys of a big boss throughout time. This time around, Pierre Coffin is putting these little guys through all kinds of crazy/zany Hollywood adventures. He seems to know what to do with these guys, where to go with their story from film to film and who to send these guys up against that will get audiences to flock to the theater to see them. “Minions and Monsters” is another example of that. That’s why it’s such a fun ride to go on.

This specific Minions story starts out with a framing device as a tour guide. Claire, voiced by Alison Janney, tells the story of two Minions, James and Henry, who have made an impact on Hollywood. The story starts out the typical way as the Minions find ways to get new big bosses and eventually lose them. While on their quest for another new boss, they end up in Hollywood wrecking the place. This catches the eye of a filmmaker Max (Christoph Waltz)) and studio heads Frank and Elwood Bright (Jeff Bridges) who want to turn them into stars. The problem is they are not exactly the best for making movies, and one time, they rolled through Hollywood, and making a mess of the town was an accident. So they get fired. This inspires Ed, another one of the Minions to make his own movie. So they go to try and find a monster for their movie, but all hell breaks loose in Hollywood. This is the typical angst and zaniness that the Minions get into.

Coffin and Brian Lynch crafted this new Minions story as a love letter to Hollywood. They have infused this story with many cameos, clues, and Easter eggs of Hollywood past. For instance, George Lucas plays himself in one scene, which is pretty funny. In other scenes, they show they have a love for old Hollywood films like “Casablanca” and especially monster movies like “The Mummy”. Which is why they chose to make their own twisted version of a monster movie. They not only have one monster but three Monsters and an evil genius monster to deal with in this film. There is definitely a lot going on, but Coffin & Lynch balance out all of the craziness quite well considering. 

One of my favorite parts of the Minions/Despicable Me franchise is the animation. It’s not at the level of Pixar all of the time, but sometimes, the animation in these films is breathtaking. “Minions and Monsters “ is one of those movies for me. The colors jump off the screen, especially with the of the monsters Irene, which is bright orange. Also, the depth and layering of some of the action sequences were incredible. I didn’t always know where to look because so much was going on on the screen. The detail with everything was amazing. I’ll definitely have to go back and watch this again to see if I can find anything I may have missed. That’s how much was going on in this movie.

With any animated film, a big part of the movie is the voice-over cast. How various Hollywood A-listers are used in these types of films is interesting. In this one, there were a lot of voice actors. Some I’ve mentioned already and others I’ve yet to mention. Bobby Moynihan and Phil LaMarr voice two Monsters, Phillips and Howard that are conjured up by Goomi (Try Parker), another character conjured up to help the Minions make their monster movie. These guys were hilarious in the film. Another wacky character that shows up is Dort (Jesse Eisenberg), who the Minions think could potentially be their new big boss at one point. He’s inspired by Gort from “The Day the Earth Stood Still” from 1951. It’s an amazing sci-fi movie. Dort falls in love with a human woman, Debbie, voiced by Zoey Deutch, who is a suffragette. Like I said, this movie has an amazing voice-over cast.

The Despicable Me/Minions franchise is one that started with Steve Carell as Gru but has transformed into something else entirely. Getting these prequels of the Minions has shown where the creator can take these cute, loveable characters. Their Minionese gibberish language is one I could barely understand at the beginning, and now I love it so much. I couldn’t imagine them any other way. That is part of the charm of these characters. With each subsequent film in the franchise, we the viewers find out more and more about them, which makes us care about them that much more. They’ve become a part of the culture of our lives now, and I don’t see them going anywhere after this new movie. It’s going to be a hit. And kids will fall in love with the Minions all over again. 

“Minions and Monsters “ was an enjoyable ride for me as a fan of old Hollywood.  Seeing all the cameos and Easter eggs to classic films like “Casablanca” “The Mummy” “The Blob” and “The Day the Earth Stood Still” was right up my alley. I dug all of that stuff. The moviemaking stuff was fun as well. The voice cast was phenomenal. Especially Coffin, who does the voices of the Minions. He’s amazing as a voice actor and director. The best part of the film was the usual zaniness that these characters get into. One crazy thing led to another, and that’s what makes these characters and the films there so enjoyable. You know, when you sit down for one of these movies, you’re going to have a good time. That’s the formula they generate. I was completely enthralled by what I was watching from the beginning to the end of this movie.

🌟 🌟 🌟 🌟 stars