Banana-loving hench-creatures return for more ‘despicable’ hijinks in Minions & Monsters

4 hours ago

Kolby Brown,

Illumination’s Minions & Monsters, directed by Pierre Coffin. // Photo provided by Universal.

Minions & Monsters marks the seventh minion-related movie, and it seems that Illumination has never-ending storylines starring goofy yellow creatures who speak gibberish. In a different setting, and with a different leading trio, the beloved characters are just as exciting as the first time they crossed the screen.

The new environment for these bumbling banana-lovers is Hollywood circa 1920, the ‘Golden Age’ for silent movies. This leads to a nice mix of historical elements and the fictional antics of the minions, making a movie that is enjoyable and period-accurate… or more so than you’d expect.

Original writer of Minions Brian Lynch came back to write this film with director Pierre Coffin, who has been involved in the franchise as a writer, director, and is the primary voice of the creatures themselves. This longtime connection shows as the film has the same family feel as the first installment over a decade ago, but feels new in content.

A newbie to the Despicable Me universe, John Powell wrote the score—and unlike his noticeable, dramatic compositions from How to Train Your Dragon and Wicked, the music didn’t stand out as much in this film. The score was filled with comforting, bubbly music that supported the minion mood, climaxing when it needed to, following their journey.

Minions James, Henry, and Ed. // Photo provided by Universal.

Contrary to the previous two movies, Minions & Monsters focuses less on the mission and adventure when finding a ‘big boss,’ but instead on specific characters’ wants and desires. As an aspiring filmmaker, James strives to share the stories he draws in his notebook.

James’s love for storytelling and the Minions’ incredible talent for accidentally landing themselves in trouble put them on a real movie set. Naturally, they are accepted as fantastic movie stars, leading to amusing scenes of them in costume as they begin their journey to stardom, all with their recognizable gibberish in Coffin’s voice. Then, as typical of these goofy yellow guys, a few accidental attempts to do good make a very large mess.

With a magic spellbook from a precious evil boss, James and his best friend Henry free a trapped monster, who then frees two of his evil friends before finally summoning a last, more terrifying gelatinous entity. This earth-eating monster is a bright orange mass covered in eyes that is on a mission to destroy everything in its path.

There’s also a satisfying side-storyline romance, adding even more ridiculousness to the plot as a friendly alien robot falls in love with a suffragette while the world almost ends around them. These goofy tidbits are what makes this movie so enjoyable—viewers never know what’s coming next, with the movie even having a shocking twist in the last five minutes.

The familiar trio of Kevin, Stuart, and Bob are replaced with three new faces in Minions & Monsters with James, Henry, and a hard-of-hearing Ed. Rather than destroy the vibe, this new trio added a fresh new outlook on what it is to be a minion, with our first time seeing Minion sign language and a wholesome new friendship in Henry and James.

The friends support each other’s dreams, navigate through treacherous scenarios with their trademark blissful ignorance, and eventually get to their happy ending in this upbeat comedy for all ages.

Despite the overwhelming amount of existing Minion content and my own adverse opinions about sequels, this movie added positive and entertaining lore to the Despicable Me universe.

Minions & Monsters comes out in theaters Wednesday, July 1.