FILM REVIEW: MINIONS & MONSTERS (U) ESP RATING: 3/5

Even though it looks like the trademark Minions tomfoolery is starting to wear thin – they at least tried hard to change up the narrative.

With the third movie in the series – and seventh in the wider Despicable Me/Minions universe – there’s no doubt that the slapstick humour is being played out. There’s simply only so much you can do – even with much-loved one-dimensional characters – until the ‘well runs dry’.

But kudos to the film’s creators for coming from a different angle, with a new prequel story mainly set in Old Hollywood of 1927 – just a few years before the Golden Era – which is about forty years before the events of the first Minions (2015) movie.

The movie briefly starts in the present day with a museum tour guide – Allison Janney’s Olivia – telling the story of two adventurous Minions, James and Henry (voiced as always by Pierre Coffin, who also directs).

A different tribe of (twenty plus) Minions – separate to the group that would eventually go on to serve Gru – are on a hunt to serve the world’s greatest villains, but always wind up gravely injuring their masters by mistake.

Running out of potential masters to aid, they stumble across a cowboy battle across a desert – and chase after the robber to become his henchmen. But when it’s revealed they inadvertently planted themselves into a movie being filmed by director Max (Christoph Waltz), Hollywood studio executive twin brothers Frank and Elwood (both voiced by Jeff Bridges) love the Minions being in the scene, and want them added to the movie.

This leads to the entire group quickly becoming a global phenomenon – appearing in several silent films – and soon achieving Hollywood stardom. But when the Golden Era of sound and voice work in film comes along, the Minions – with their incomprehensible language – are as quickly fired as they were hired.

Not to be deterred, passionately artistic James comes up with his own idea to make a movie called ‘Minions and Monsters’ in which they would battle giant creatures. They use a spell book they’d taken from a previous deceased master Warlock, and try to summon a squid monster – even though it appears as a mini creature called Goomi (Trey Parker).

As Goomi takes James, Henry and another deaf Minion called Ed, to find larger monsters for the production, the rest of the Minions crew align themselves with a futuristic alien robot called Dort (Jesse Eisenberg), in a largely uneventful – and quite arduous – sub plot.

In fact the film’s final third is its weakest, as James finally makes his movie – with all the high-jinks that ensue – including a paint-by-numbers double-cross and formulaic finale.

But that said, there’s enough pranks and light-hearted humour accompanying the refreshingly different main story to always make it amiably watchable.

There’s no doubting the jokes and gags that have adorned six previous movies across the larger franchise are starting to run out of steam as film fatigue sets in – but these little Minions still have a monstrous heart.

And most importantly, they still can’t help but make you smile.

ESP Rating: 3/5

Gavin Miller

Showcase Cinema De Lux Peterborough & Odeon Luxe Peterborough, Out Now

Voice Cast: Pierre Coffin, Allison Janney, Christoph Waltz, Jeff Bridges, Trey Parker, Zoey Deutch, Jesse Eisenberg & George Lucas

Running Time: 1 Hr 29 Mins

Director: Pierre Coffin

Film Review Venue: Showcase Cinema De Lux Peterborough

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