Minions James, Henry and Ed summon a monster using a magical book so they can make a monster movie with no budget.
The small, yellow, gibberish-speaking Minions have captured the hearts of film fans everywhere, so it’s no wonder that they’re on their third prequel film, in addition to four Despicable Me outings.
Set in 1920, 48 years before their first solo outing, 2015’s Minions, the latest film tells the story of James, Henry and Ed, three minions with creative storytelling aspirations.
After years of trawling the globe looking for a new “big boss” to serve, the minions (voiced by director/creator Pierre Coffin) stumble across a horseback heist and get involved, accidentally infiltrating the making of a motion picture.
Much to director Max (Christoph Waltz)’s dismay, the bosses of his studio, Frank and Elwood Bright (Jeff Bridges), love the minions and want them to star in their movies and they soon become rich and famous.
Unfortunately, due to their unintelligible language not working with ‘talkies’, their acting dreams are soon over. But James, Henry and Ed pivot and decide to become directors instead, bringing their monster story to life.
However, with no budget and only a camera at their disposal, they decide to use a magical book to bring a real monster to life – with chaotic consequences!
Minions & Monsters marks a creative high for the long-running animated franchise. It is a love letter to silent films and Old Hollywood and is littered with references to films like Modern Times, Safety Last! and Casablanca.
In fact, there are so many references that you may have to watch this more than once to spot them all.
Naturally, these references will be more appreciated by adults and probably go straight over children’s heads, but there is plenty in here for them to enjoy, from the hilarious minions and their silly antics to an entertaining monster adventure.
The film is admittedly stronger in the first half with their introduction to Hollywood. It feels less focused and inspired in the second half, when the monsters arrive and the minions split into two groups – the filmmaking trio and the others, who decide to serve the humanoid robot Dort (Jesse Eisenberg).
After seven films, audiences could get tired of the minions, but that seems unlikely here – they are as silly and funny as ever, thanks to Coffin’s excellent voice work, the slapstick comedy and sheer wealth of jokes.
Minions & Monsters is a highly entertaining animated outing that should have both kids and adults grinning from ear to ear the entire way through.
In cinemas from Wednesday 1st July
By Hannah Wales
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