Even if the cinema release this time has to do without its own TikTok hype – we all remember the #GentleMinions – the constantly babbling chaotic people simply cannot be killed as a pop culture phenomenon. Having long since emerged from the shadow of the actual “Despicable Me” main characters, the full-time sidekicks have directly proven with their own billion-dollar hit “Minions” that they can also stand on their own two feet at the global box office. While the story of the purified supervillain Gru has largely been told since the second part of the main series, the Minions solo adventures are much more varied – simply because those responsible have free choice when selecting the setting from prehistoric times to the disco era of the 1970s in “Minions 2: In Search of the Mini-Boss”.
While the predecessor felt like a prequel to “Despicable Me”, “Minions & Monsters” now for the first time (almost) completely does without Gru and his adopted children. Even the Minions themselves were replaced in the third attempt: Instead of Kevin, Stuart and Bob, this time we follow a different tribe of yellow helpers in their search for a suitable villain boss. A good decision! “Minions & Monsters” frees itself of all story ballast, at least in the first half, and instead indulges uninhibitedly in its own nonsense. And this time it’s not just a wonderfully chaotic pleasure for children, but also especially for cinema lovers of all ages – because “Minions & Monsters” also celebrates the early days of the Hollywood dream factory in an astonishingly loving way.
The Minions are once again looking for a nasty villain to serve…
The Minions only have one central goal in life: to find the perfect villain – and then to support him with all their commitment. But such a plan can hardly be implemented as long as you have such clumsy Minions like James and Henry (all Minions are voiced by their inventor Pierre Coffin) in the group. The duo always causes a lot of chaos with their ill-considered actions – which even costs some villains their heads. After centuries of hapless wandering, the Minions eventually arrive in Hollywood in the late 1920s – and unceremoniously end up in front of the camera themselves!
The director Max (Christoph Waltz) turns the yellow troublemakers into real film stars – and soon the Minions have the dream factory firmly in their hands! But while they were still enjoying their newfound stardom, the talkies were in decline. Because it turns out that the Minions are incredibly bad at repeating texts – even a simple “Rosebud” doesn’t come out of their lips without errors. In addition, her gibberish goes down well with neither the company bosses nor the audience. So the Minions, who have been sidelined, come up with a plan: They want to make a film themselves – and all they need is a real monster…
Deep bow to Hollywood
The entry sets the route for the following 90 minutes. After a modified version of the familiar Illumination logo in the look of old Max Fleischer cartoons, there’s a fast-paced journey through the early history of cinema that reveals that the Minions have actually always been part of cinema history – we just never looked closely enough. Early filmic evidence such as “Workers leaving the Lumière Works”, “The Watered Gardener” or “The Arrival of a Train at the Station in La Ciotat” are suddenly minionified – and even the fantastic classic “Journey to the Moon” from 1902, despite being black and white, is not safe from the banana-yellow madness.
The first 45 minutes are literally overflowing with references, which are sometimes more, sometimes less obviously integrated into the humorous gag parade. The references range from Orson Welles (“Citizen Kane”) to Erich von Stroheim (“The Merry Widow”) to Michael Curtiz (“Casablanca”) and Quentin Tarantino (“Kill Bill”). “Star Wars” creator George Lucas even speaks a version of himself – and even came out of retirement specifically for this. With so many famous people and references, it’s probably not possible to spot all the Easter eggs the first time – especially since it’s difficult to keep track of everything in the ever-present hustle and bustle.
… and end up on their mission in Hollywood in the Roaring Twenties!
“Minions & Monsters” feels at times as if the unjustly lost Hollywood excess “Babylon – Rush of Ecstasy” with Margot Robbie and Brad Pitt had been put through the Minion meat grinder. An exuberant dream factory party with Minions, elephants and plenty of bubbly – appropriately underlined by the beautifully classical orchestral score by “How to Train Your Dragon” composer John Powell. The famous stunts of silent film comedians Buster Keaton (“Steamer Willis Son”), Harold Lloyd (“Skyscraper of all things!”) and Charlie Chaplin (“Modern Times”) are also recreated with a lot of love.
This special honor makes sense, after all, “Minions & Monsters” is also an old-school slapstick fest and is obviously aware of its historical role models. Pies are flying, eyes are being poked and butts are being spanked – it’s really a humorous affair, even if not every punch line is right. The combination of quickly staged action and visual gags works surprisingly well, with an unusual train chase proving to be a successful setpiece highlight of the first half. Literally no stone is left unturned here – although the Minions can only prevent one catastrophe after another by uniting their physical strength and still reduce half of Hollywood to rubble.
At least in the finale it hits again
It is almost to be expected that this rapid opening pace cannot be maintained throughout – and in fact the film stumbles when it tries to expand the gag parade with a minimal plot. The story about the robot man Dort (original: Jesse Eisenberg / German voice: Tom Kaulitz) and the cute miniature Cthulhu Goomi (Trey Parker / Bill Kaulitz) turns out to be a rather dull undertaking, also because the Minions are suddenly pushed back into their sidekick role and have to leave the stage to significantly less interesting characters. While Goomi’s sinister plan at least pushes the plot forward, the love story between Dort and the committed women’s rights activist Debbie (Zoey Deutch) brings no added value to the film. Even the biggest romantics in the audience are unlikely to feel butterflies in their stomachs.
Despite some nice ideas in this section too, with a playing time of only 90 minutes, noticeable lengths creep in in the second half. Sometimes it almost feels like waking up after a severe sugar shock. Slowly, reason returns and one wonders whether it is actually possible that the Minions of all people pay such loving homage to the beginnings of the film industry. But don’t worry: by the time of the big finale, which extensively celebrates the science fiction wave of the 1950s such as “Blob – Horror without a Name” or “The Day the Earth Stood Still”, the Minions can step on the nonsense pedal again – and even bring out the heavy artillery.
Conclusion: The Minions answer to “Babylon – Rush of Ecstasy”! At its best, the animated adventure is an uninhibited spectacle that honors the roots of classic Hollywood cinema in its own unique way – and will bring joy to both big and small cinema fans. With so much love for film history, you can overlook some of the slack in the middle – especially since the entertaining finale leaves you feeling pretty reconciled from the cinema.