MINIONS & MONSTERS

MINIONS & MONSTERS presents another animated biography to Gru’s wacky friends, the Minions, from DESPICABLE ME, where two minions, James and Henry, grow tired of the endless search for the perfect villain to serve, and wind up in 1927 Los Angeles, where they decide to make movies, with disastrous results. MINIONS & MONSTERS proceeds from one comical disaster to another, but James and Henry decide to put things right and get help from a robot invader from outer space who’s fallen in love and helps them stop three evil monsters trying to destroy Earth, but MINIONS & MONSTERS has lots of strong cartoon action and two light obscenities.

The movie begins with a lady conducting a tour of a Hollywood historical exhibit for children and adults at the famous Grauman’s Chinese Theater in Hollywood. When they comes across a large picture of two yellow minions named James and Henry, she tells the people that James and Henry made Hollywood what it is today. Everyone on the tour looks extremely perplexed because they never hear of these two guys. So, the lady sits down with them and tells the story of James and Henry.

Cut to the beginnings of human civilization. A tribe of Minions are looking for the perfect villain to serve, but they keep accidentally killing them. The other minions blame James, because he’s always distracted drawing pictures and trying to tell stories with his pictures. They ostracize James, but Henry thinks James is funny, so he and James become fast friends.

Things take a turn when James becomes interested in a conjuring book of an evil sorcerer the Minions are serving. The sorcerer admonishes James not to touch the book. However, when the wizard leaves the room, James can’t help himself. He looks at the book and decides to conjure a large creature he sees in the book. The creature’s eyes and smile look kind, but he turns into a vicious monster with sharp teeth and laser eyes. The room starts burning up from the laser eyes ,and, when the sorcerer returns, the creature burns him to a crisp. James says the reverse spell to make the monster disappear, but he secretly takes the book with him as the Minions go off searching for a new villain to serve.

Out in the desert in 1927, the Minions accidentally stumble upon a movie set where a posse on horseback is chasing a bank robber on a horse. The Minions get excited because the bank robber looks like the perfect villain to serve. However, the robber’s just an actor, and he’s scared when the minions stare frantically chasing after him. The chase ends up on a speeding train, with James and Henry taking control of the train engine. They cause all sorts of hilarious mayhem when they get into the City of Los Angeles.

The director, Max, thinks the minions have ruined his movie. However, when the two studio bosses, the Bright Brothers, see the footage, they pronounce the movie a masterpiece in the making. They sign James and Henry, and the Minions, to a contract. Unexpectedly, the Minions become international movie stars.

However, when talking pictures are invented, the Minions totally lose their mystique because no one can understand what they’re saying. That doesn’t stop James, though. He’s found his calling in motion pictures. So, encouraged by their friend, Max the director, James and Henry start making a monster movie based on James’ drawings. What could possibly go wrong?

As with the two previous MINION movies, MINIONS & MONSTERS finds the Minions getting into one comical disaster after another. However, in the new movie, the Minions literally conjure up a tiny monster named Goomi who’s high voice hides an evil purpose. He leads the Minions to two other monsters frozen in ice. Once the two monsters are unthawed, Goomi secretly tells them of his plan to eat all the people on Earth and destroy the planet. Goomi tricks James into conjuring another monster, a large yellow blob covered with eyes named Irene.

The good news is that when the four monsters reveal their evil plan, the Minions rise to the occasion and try to stop them. However, they need help from an alien robot from outer space named Dort. Dort also had an evil plan to invade Earth, but he’s fallen in love with a suffragette, and she with him. So, Dort decides to help the Minions save the people of Earth.

MINIONS & MONSTERS has many funny moments. The train chase is hilarious, as are a few other bits of business. Everything ends in a grand finale where the Minions and Dort work together to stop the evil monsters.

As the movie opens, the Minions are funny little creatures with a mistaken goal of searching for. a villain to serve. However, that goal changes when James and Henry lead the Minions away from serving evil and into making movies. Sadly, though, this just gives them a big head. So, when their movie careers end, they decide to make a monster movie, but they conjure up a monster from a book of incarnations from their former master. However, when they learn of the monster’s evil plans to eat all the people on Earth, they finally decide to do the right thing for a change. The alien robot decides the same thing, because he’s fallen in love. Thus, ultimately, it’s love that saves the day. The movie also imparts a positive media-wise lesson about filmmaking and mass media that filmmakers should be careful about what they create, to make sure it isn’t dangerous

That said, MONSTERS & MINIONS has some objectionable content. It has two relatively light obscenities. Also, part of the story involves a book of magical spells where a person can conjure up monsters. So, MOVIEGUIDE® advises caution for older children.