Minions & Monsters

Since ancient times, Minions have sought an evil 'Big Boss' to serve, but when one-eyed James (voice of Pierre Coffin) creates a Lego Brick for their current master, Cyclops, the giant villain steps on it with catastrophic results. The other Minions are furious, but two-eyed Henry (voice of Pierre Coffin) sees the hilarity in it and the two quickly become fast friends through several more unfortunate villains all the way up to their assault on 1920's Hollywood where director Max (voice of Christoph Waltz) turns their group chaos into stardom. But when the sound era exposes their inability to follow English language cue cards, Max gifts James, whose storytelling ability has impressed him, with his first camera so James and Henry can make their magnum opus, "Minions & Monsters."

Laura's Review: A-

Proving seven is indeed a lucky number, cowriter (with "Minions'" Brian Lynch), debuting solo director and voice of every Minion Pierre Coffin gives us the best of the "Despicable Me" franchise yet with his Minionized love letter to Hollywood history. Film aficionados will delight from the onset as Coffin flips back through Universal's Globe logos to its very first, ending with a Merrie Melodies tribute featuring period perfect b&w Minions, before implanting them into the motion photography of Eadweard Muybridge, the Lumière Brothers first film and Georges Méliès' "A Trip to the Moon." We'll then be transported into a current day Hollywood museum tour led by Olivia (voice of Alison Janney) who notes tributes to "E.T.," Keanu Reeves in "The Matrix" and an exhibit feature George Lucas desperate to get out of his glass case (keep your eyes peeled in the upper left corner of the screen for a nod to "Airplane!"). It is Olivia who tells us that James and Henry were instrumental in the foundation of Hollywood's film industry.

James and Henry will add a third to their ranks with the hearing-impaired Ed while their leader Dick remains focused on finding their next boss. After going through a pirate, mummy and a sorcerer, who James obliterates when he conjures a giant bunny from his master's spell book that turns out to breath fire, the bright yellow mob will target a 'Big Boss' in a horse riding train robber, inadvertently dismantling a film shoot. Now loose in Hollywood, the Minions will clog the gears of Charlie Chaplin's "Modern Times" before racing by Harold Lloyd hanging from a clock face and a house falling on Buster Keaton on their runaway train, but when the film's cowering director, Max, shows the footage to Bright Brothers Studio bosses Frank and Elwood Bright (voice of Jeff Bridges) they declare it comedic genius. After headlining such hits as "They Came from the Stars to Hit You with a Frying Pan" and "Tiny Barbarians with Chainsaws," the Minions become rich, but everything comes crashing down "Singin' in the Rain" style with the advent of sound when they can't follow cue cards in films that seem an awful lot like "The Maltese Falcon" and "Sergeant York." When a Minion drops a snow globe in one famous scene, instead of saying 'Rosebud' he utters 'oh, poop!' (Coffin goes to town in these sequences, rendering Minions in gauzy black and white and covering them with camera moves like 360 degree pans.)

Fired by the Bright Brothers, the Minions troop out each saying 'Bye Max,' Max returning the farewell to each by name. Except for the aptly named Dick, who immediately splinters off from James, Henry and Ed to find the Minions' next evil boss. That would be Dort (voice of Jesse Eisenberg), a robot who looks a lot like "The Day the Earth Stood Still's" Gort but who announces his intention to invade Earth. Fortunately, he is quickly sidetracked when he falls head over heels for Debbie (voice of Zoey Deutch), a young suffragette.

Now that James has a camera and has drawn his storyboards for "Minions & Monsters," he's lacking one thing - a monster. Luckily Ed stashed away that sorcerer's spell book, but when they attempt to conjure up a terrifying Lovecraftian horror, they get Goomi (voice of 'South Park's' Trey Parker), a small, green cute version, instead. Unbeknownst to them, Goomi, who promises scarier beasts and delivers the towering Phillips (voice of SNL's Bobby Moynihan) and Howard (voice of 'Futurama's' Phil LaMarr), has his own plans for world domination when he uses the book to call forth the most powerful monster of them all - Irene. Dort, redeemed by love, announces, 'But, I have Minions!'

Coffin and Lynch fashion a climax that is part "The Blob" and part "Earth vs. the Flying Saucers," all, as James will happily learn in the aftermath, filmed by Ed. This is a movie for film lovers to embrace, one which will no doubt yield new surprises with repeat viewings. Coffin, whose Minions greet their monsters with 'Big Kaiju!,' has really poured himself into this one and we can feel his love for both movies and his little yellow guys. Waltz brings warmth to his Teutonic filmmaker while Eisenberg is clearly having a ball as the robot who reprograms himself. John Powell commands a referential orchestral score accompanied by a 65-voice choir while the soundtrack features movie standards like 'As Time Goes By' and 'Hooray for Hollywood.' By all means stay for closing credits which feature cameos from Gru, his dog Kyle, Dr. Nefario and Agnes.

Universal Pictures releases "Minions & Monsters" in theaters on 7/1/26.