Monsters & Minions tells the tale of a tribe of Minions (all voiced by Pierre Coffin), continuing on their Sisyphean quest to find a villain to serve. However, a creative Minion named James would rather spend his time drawing, painting, and creating stories, which causes friction with the head Minion, Dick. After a few of their bosses go the way to the dinosaur, they eventually wind up in 1920s Hollywood and become newfound stars of the silver screen. But when talkies are introduced, the Minions find themselves unemployed due to their nonsensical language not translating to the big screen. In a last ditch effort to stay relevant, they decide to pull a trick out of one of their old master’s spellbook and bring some monsters to Tinseltown.
From the jump, this film subverts expectations by setting the stage with clever iterations of the studio logos: the black-and-white Illumination logo features rubber-hose dancing Minions and Universal logo rewinds through past iterations, landing on that of the Trans-Atlantic Film Company. The film is brimming with nonstop movie references that will cinephiles will love. You get cameos from Charlie Chaplin, Buster Keaton, and Harold Lloyd to George Lucas; nods to movie barons studio heads; and plenty of niche and mainstream cinematic references (Rosebud and Minions, anyone?). While children and general audiences will no doubt enjoy the old timey Hollywood setting coupled with the Minions’ antics, it was delightful hearing all the movie critics in the audience continually erupt with laughter during the in-jokes.
The first act is a raucous bout with the Minions doing what they do best: comedy. Whether it’s interacting with their new villain bosses or filming scenes on the Hollywood backlot, the Minions chew the scenery, leaving you nonstop laughing. With Looney Tunes-style humor and gags, Illumination has unlocked the secret to keeping the Minions’ surprisingly fresh. You wouldn’t make it to a 7th film in the Despicable Me franchise with these cute yellow pipsqueeks otherwise.
However, just like the Golden Age of Hollywood, all good things much come to an end. In Monsters & Minions, it’s around the midway point when Dick and the Minions split ways from James, making way for the monsters. The plot looses steam at this point, as the wonderful love letter to cinema takes a backseat to new characters.
This introduces a b-plot where Dick and his Minions decide to serve a dorky alien robot named Dort (Jesse Eisenberg)—a parody of The Day the Earth Stood Still. It’s unclear whether he’s just a nerd in a tin suit or an actual robot, but the Minions love him nonetheless, as does a young suffragette named Debbie (Zoey Deutch). The film then goes completely off the rails in the third act, having completely deviated from the cleverness that kicked it off. While there are some fun moments here and there, the ending pales in comparison to the first act.
Monsters & Minions is silly, slapstick and surprisingly smart. There’s plenty for everyone in the audience to be entertained on multiple levels from the seasoned movie buff to the kiddos. It proves yet again (against all reason) that the Minions are bonafide movie stars and can carry this spinoff franchise entirely on their own, just like the greats actors of old.
Monsters & Minions hits theaters on July 1, 2026.
★★★1⁄2
