The film centres around a talented young Minion named James (of course voiced by Coffin). While the Minions have spent generations roaming the world to find ‘evil’ leaders to help things are a little different when it comes to James.
James has a creative streak and would rather be painting or plotting out a story rather than helping out with the evil side of things. This frustrates the Minion’s leader, Dick (also voiced by Coffin), who watches as James teams up with the equally creative Henry (Coffin again) and the silent Ed (yep… Coffin again).
Not only do the trio always seem to be doing their own things but they also somehow always manage to injure or accidentally bring about the demise of the evil being that they are supposed to be serving.
Things change for the better though during the 1920s when the Minions find themselves in Hollywood and have a chance meeting with director Max (Christoph Waltz – Django Unchained). They instantly become stars appearing in his movies but James dreams of bigger films – he wants to direct himself and win an Academy Award.
That dream soon causes more problems because while most of the minions decide to serve the evil Dort (Jesse Eisenberg – Zombieland) an alien robot who is hell-bent on world domination James, Dick and Ed work on making their monster movie which involves them conjuring up their very own monster Goomi (Trey Parker – South Park) who decides to bring his own friends along with him – and that has catastrophic consequences.
Crazy ride
Some of the things that happen in his film are completely crazy. One moment Coffin, his co-director Patrick Delage (Despicable Me 4) and co-writer Brian Lynch (The Secret Life Of Pets) have the minions involved in a wild west train chase, then they are paying tribute to Humphrey Bogart in a film noir scene and the next moment they are in UFOs firing on monsters. Yes, this is one crazy ride for the audience and I do get the feeling that this is a film that audience members are either going to really love or be lukewarm about.
My biggest concern for Minions & Monsters is that perhaps the film might find it difficult to keep its audience entertained for the entire film. The Hollywood curator (Allison Janney – Juno) storyline provides a great point for narration but grouped together with an overly-long ‘History Of The Minions’ opening piece it does feel slightly redundant.
Then there is the fact that, while the film expertly pays tribute to early Hollywood, I can’t help but wonder whether or not the scenes depicting classic movie characters will go right over the heads of the younger audience – on the flipside of that you also have to wonder whether or not the sillier elements of the film will annoy the older audience.
The film really is at its best once Dort and the monsters arrive on the scene. That is when Coffin and co pay tribute to 1950s sci-fi and creature features and it works exceptionally well. The film goes to a whole new level as the monsters put humanity in peril while there are serious questions over Dort – is he really an alien or just a kid in a suit. The suspense these storylines bring to the film put the audience on the edge of their seats, while it feels like it also actually gives the Minions something to do rather than just drift around the world.
Whether or not you enjoy Minions & Monsters will come down to what you expect from the film. If you are okay with a little bit of nostalgia mixed with some silliness you will love it and I can guarantee you will get laughs throughout. This certainly isn’t the perfect family film but hardcore Minion fans will have a lot of fun.
Minions & Monsters will open in Thailand on 1st July and is rated ‘G’.
3/5 Stars
David Griffiths has been working as a film journalist for over 25 years. That time has seen him work in radio, television and in print. He currently hosts a film podcast called The Popcorn Conspiracy. He is also a Rotten Tomatoes accredited reviewer and is an alternate judge for the Golden Globes Awards. You can follow him at Facebook: SubcultureEntertainmentAus.