Alright, Mr. De-Minion, I’m ready for my close-up.
You could say: the Minions are big; it’s their pictures that got small. I didn’t care for “Minions: The Rise of Gru” and “Despicable Me 4,” because I felt they were doing the same Minion mayhem and couldn’t resonate with the earlier films. But with “Minions & Monsters,” I think they’re back in the game. Except this time, they share a love letter for classic Hollywood.
Think of the transitions from silent films to talkies represented in “Singing in the Rain,” “Sunset Boulevard,” “The Artist,” and “Babylon.” Think of “Cats Don’t Dance,” which lampooned 1930s Hollywood through animation and singing and dancing animals. Think of the monsters having 50s vibes in “Monsters vs. Aliens.” Think of Harold Lloyd hanging on that clock in “Safety Last,” and Charlie Chaplin being trapped in a factory machine in “Modern Times.” And think of Universal Pictures being the pioneer for monster movies. Now, imagine if the Minions were in the Roaring Twenties trying to enter that kind of movie-making magic. I think the product sells.
We have some new Minion names this time (all still voiced by franchise director Pierre Coffin). There’s the ambitious filmmaker James, his affable buddy Henry, their deaf buddy Ed, and their bossy leader Dick. When they make it to Hollywood, they find themselves celebrities in the silent movie era.
But when talkies come in and their Minionese language doesn’t work, James decides to make a monster movie using a spell book to conjure up Cthulhu (voiced by Trey Parker, the creator and star of “South Park” and also the voice of Balthazar Bratt in “Despicable Me 3”). It turns out, however, he’s as big as Scrappy Doo, green as Mike Wazowski, and has the name Goomi (full name: Gary Orcam Oliver Magma Ichabod the Deceiver), but he has big plans of duping them in their passion project. And I remember Parker lampooning the monster on a “South Park” arc, so I guess he’s no stranger to the H.P. Lovecraft entity.
The celebrity voices in “Minions & Monsters” also include Christoph Waltz as an ambitious director, Jesse Eisenberg as a “Day the Earth Stood Still” robot, Zoey Deutch as his suffragette girlfriend (and don’t ask me about how they would have sex), Jeff Bridges doing two different kinds of voices as the twin studio heads, Allison Janney (another alumni) as a Universal tour guide, George Lucas as himself, and Bobby Moynihan and Phil LaMarr as Goomi’s monster friends. And as entertaining as they all are here, they never overshadow the Minions.
“Minions & Monsters” has a crossover appeal for both kids who love the slapstick and adults who know the classic movies it’s referencing. The animation is as bright and colorful as usual. And I like how it takes risks with the humor and dialogue (a femme fatale calls a Minion detective named Humphrey a “bastard” in a movie). I think this is something I wanted out of the last few “Despicable Me” installments. Granted, the monster plot could have been a little longer, but it still delivers on a lot of things. And a certain monster chase sequence couldn’t be more old-fashioned and comical.
This franchise is supposed to have fun, feature Minions, and know exuberance when it sees it. Something I feel in love with when I saw the first two “Despicable Me” movies. And given its love letter to classic Hollywood, I think it’s happy and delightful, and has plenty of bananas for fans. I’ve mentioned how I think the Illumination franchise deserves to have a comeback, and it does with “Minions & Monsters.” And neither Henry, James, nor Ed had to shoot someone in the pool to make that happen.
