Minions & Monsters: The New “Despicable Me” Prequel

The novels of Henry James are renowned for their psychological complexity. In contrast, there is absolutely nothing about the Minions Henry and James that could be described as psychologically complex. That is why they are going to beat Supergirl like a drum at the box-office. There will be no serious messages or identity politics, because why would they start now? This is why the Minions are a trusted billion-dollar franchise. The Minions again return to their pre-Gru era in an affectionate tribute to golden age Hollywood, Pierre Coffin’s Illumination-produced Minions & Monsters, co-directed by Patrick Delage, which opens tomorrow anyplace that has a commercial movie screen.

James’ tribe of Minions always had trouble finding an evil overlord to serve. Every time they found someone promising, their reign of terror accidentally ended prematurely. It was often James’s fault. He takes a lot of flak each time. Nevertheless, Henry, the cool rebel Minion, digs James’s stories and encourages his artistic inclinations.

Fittingly, with a shortage of megalomaniacs to serve, the Minions end up in Hollywood, after interrupting a location shoot. Quickly, they become huge stars, since they are like the Keystone Cops on steroids and amphetamines. James is no longer the black sheep either. In fact, he harbors ambitions to direct, like Max, the European filmmaker who helms the Minions’ movies. Unfortunately, their careers stall with the launch of talking pictures, very much like Singing in the Rain, one of thousands of classic films directly referenced by Coffin and co-screenwriter Brian Lynch. The Minions’ verbal gibberish just won’t work for Frank and Elwood Bright, the studio bosses.

Still, you can’t keep a plucky Minion like James down. In fact, Max is so impressed by James’s kaiju movie script, he gives the creative Minion his first movie camera. As fate would have it, James’s other close Minion friend Ed still has their late evil wizard master’s spellbook, so they use it to summon real monsters for their film. Initially, they free Goomi, a pint-sized Lovecraftian creature, from the book’s nether-prison. He might not look imposing, but he is a crafty, deceitful little demonic menace, who soon tricks the Minions into raising two potentially apocalyptic monsters.

Yet, all the film’s earth-shaking chaos always remains safely kid-friendly. As usual, the Minions keep the mayhem coming fast and furious. Coffin, Delage, and Lynch maintain an extraordinarily high gag-per-minute ratio. Plus, serious cineastes will be impressed with the constant film references, starting with the Minions crashing the Lumiere Brothers’ The Arrival of a Train, during the retro-period opening credits.

Best of all, the Minions never talk politics or ideology, either on-screen or off (admittedly, being cartoon characters certainly helps discourage the latter). (If only Supergirl’s alter-ego had been as wise as the Minions.) Minions movies are all about entertainment, the sillier and goofier the better. They are a refreshing throwback to vintage Looney Tunes and Tom & Jerry. You can’t help laughing at their movies. Arguably, this one happens to be smarter, since it pays homage to so many old school Hollywood classics, in rather clever ways. Highly recommended for holiday family movie-going, Minions & Monsters opens at every theater near you this Wednesday (7/1).