By Matthew Moorcroft

Solid Recommendation

• Directed by Pierre Coffin
• Starring Pierre Coffin, Trey Parker, Allison Janney, Christoph Waltz
• PG

While their appeal may have diminished overtime, one forgets there was a time when the Minions, the yellow pill shaped creatures that are Illumination’s mascots (and the bane of certain parents’ existence), once actually were somewhat appealing. The original Despicable Me isn’t a perfect movie by any means, in fact in a lot of ways it’s rather quaint and basic, but the Minions were a genuine comedic goldmine that had it’s roots in classic comedy and slapstick; it’s always funny seeing somebody getting physically harmed, regardless of age.

It’s this initial appeal that Minions & Monsters is not only tapping into, but also actively celebrating now. While the Minions have struggled since their second Despicable Me outing to keep that initial hilarity, Minions & Monsters proves that there is still a ton of gas left in the tank as long as you keep in mind two key things – that the Minions are silly, and to tell an actual story with stakes, no matter how small.

That story in this case is the story of James, a small, creative Minion who would rather create and tell stories then serve an evil boss like his companions. After a series of events that eventually lead them into Hollywood, James falls in love with the newfound artform of cinema, at the time still in the Golden Age of silent film and it’s comedic stars like Buster Keaton and Charlie Chaplin. The Minions become silent film stars, as their antics are perfect for it, but once the talkies come around and they have to speak, suddenly things get difficult.

It’s easy to see a meta reading into Minions & Monsters, which is easily Illumination’s strongest feature possibly ever in terms of having actual meat. Sure, it’s just as hyperactive and silly as ever, and the film ultimately aims young in it’s demographics, but it’s got smarts about it that feels unexpectedly sincere for these little guys. That aforementioned meta reading plays into that, where one could argue that it even works as metaphor for the Minions themselves, who struggled in their first couple of big screen outings narratively and quality wise in an attempt to find an identity outside of their mainline franchise.

But it’s at the center of Minions & Monsters‘ true appeal, which is that of it’s reverence and genuine love for classic cinema. There isn’t a kids film at the moment that feels like it’s equally aimed at long time adult cinephiles quite like this one – I doubt kids and even most adults will get jokes about Modern Times, the early work of silent shorts in the late 1800s, or a killer subplot about “Dort” who is suspiciously named similarly to a famous robot from The Day the Earth Stood Still – and that gives it a unique voice in the current animated environment.

Once the talkies do start, and the aforementions “monsters” part of the story needs to appear, the film changes gears but remains entertaining, particularly into a Blob inspired climax that feels like a classic creature feature but now with Minion shenanigans. The Minions themselves are mostly at their best here as well, stripped away from the usual spy stuff that have become tired in the main series in favor of clever scenarios, slapstick, and physical comedy that has them go from one crazy scenario to the next.

It’s also far and away the best looking and sounding Minions film, mostly due to an excellent score by the otherwise impeccable John Powell’s whose compositions feel like classic Hollywood scoring in their timing and grandeur as well as fantastic background animation that leans into photorealism without ever coming out of place. Illumination has always had strong technical post-Despicable Me 1 and this is probably one of the finest looking outings, especially in terms of framing and boarding, likely due to the returning series creator Pierre Coffin coming bacck to the director’s chair. He is making his writing debut here too, and it’s clear from as early as the opening titles this is a true passion project for him as he injects as much film references and love of the artform as he can into 90 minutes.

But most of all, there is a pleasantly charming aspect to the flick that can’t be ignored. Even if it’s first half is stronger then the later monster portions – which feel mostly like the film needing a second story after it’s first runs out of steam – it never stops being lovely, witty, and entertaining, and by the end there is a adoration for cinema that rivals that of The Fabelmans or Cinema Paradiso in how much it truly loves the artform. It took 16 years, but Illumination finally has their magnum opus.