A One Mann’s Movies review of “Minions and Monsters”. (2026, 3*, U).
The Minions are back – minus Gru – in “Minions and Monsters”. I know that for many of my cinephile friends the Minions only have to appear on screen, let alone say anything, and they generate hysterical laughter. That is their right and viva la difference!
But I’ve never really got the appeal. I’m not completely immune – their slapstick antics raise a few laughs, sure. But they have a tendency to often irritate me rather than entertain with their nonsensical jabbering. (How they get passed the censors with their often repeated version of “Thank You”, I will never know!)
My daughter Jenn, of the Movie Bread Club podcast, confessed to me that she hates their speech so much that when she thought she was going to have to take her kids to see this new offering (we took them instead) she was planning to take her noise cancelling headphones so she didn’t have to listen to them but could put a podcast on instead!
So, I’ve probably been harsh on this film with my rating, particularly since my grandkids loved it. But, while it had lots of clever references to the early days of cinema, I got a bit bored and irritated by the third reel.
One Mann’s Movies Rating:
Plot:
The Minions have gone from place to place, seeking to serve a criminal mastermind (“Big Boss, Big Boss”) but managing to dispatch them all in unfortunate style. Their quest takes them to 1927 Hollywood where two of their more creative members, Henry and Thomas, fall into the film business and seek to create the perfect horror movie.
Certification:
UK: U; US: PG. (From the BBFC website: “Very mild comic violence, threat, rude humour.” There is a short clip of someone’s head being severed. It’s done in a comic “Tom and Jerry” fashion, but I did think “hmmm… is this a U sort of thing”? I note that the film got a PG in the States.)
Talent:
Starring: Pierre Coffin, Trey Parker, Allison Janney, George Lucas, Christoph Waltz, Jeff Bridges, Jesse Eisenberg, Zoey Deutch.
Directed by: Pierre Coffin.
Written by: Pierre Coffin & Brian Lynch.
Running Time: 1h 30m.
Review:
Positives:
- There are some cracking film-history gags in here. Right from the opening, the modern Universal logo, to Jerry Goldsmith’s magnificent fanfare, suddenly rewinds back through the Universal Pictures logos of yore to the very first versions from the 1920’s. We see Minions riding the famous ‘Horse in Motion’ of Eadweard Muybridge; recreations of the “Train entering station” (one of the very first motion pictures that caused panic in the auditorium); Charlie Chaplin in “Modern Times”; and Harold Lloyd and Buster Keaton doing their most famous stunts. We also effectively get a recreation of “Singin’ in the Rain” where the talkies come in and the Minion’s lack of communication skills become an issue! I enjoyed the first reel of the film because of that.
- As with all of the Minions films, there are some cute sight gags, some of which land and some of which don’t. But the hit rate is mostly positive.
Negatives:
- I just found I lost interest in the third reel. The action – basically the Minions destroying most of downtown LA – becomes overly loud and overly frenetic and it started giving me a headache. I can’t actually believe the film is only 90 minutes long, since it felt a whole lot longer to me!
- I wanted a more coherent story. The whole ‘Monsters conjured from a spell book’ thing just seemed to be there to pep up the film with more manic action when it started to sag. If they had just stuck to their knitting and remade “Singin’ in the Rain“, but with Minions, I’d have been happier!
Monkeys:
There are numerous “monkeys” during the running of the end titles, some involving the Minion’s long term collaborator Gru (from the “Despicable Me” movies). There is no visual monkey at the end of the end titles, but there is a funny audio monkey, a corruption of John Powell’s choral music, that made me laugh.
Summary Thoughts:
I know a lot of people love the Minions, and so will love this movie. I’m afraid I’m just not one of them. It has its moments that were fun, but I could have done with a more coherent story and fewer of the little yellow shits! (I find with the Despicable Me movies, the central presence of Gru makes the Minions more bearable.)
Where to watch?
Trailer:
The trailer for the film is here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZSdOwt-G49w.
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