The Minions Go Hollywood: ‘Minions & Monsters’ Reviewed
by Rachel Bellwoar
Minions — are they really irresistible or is it possible to be immune to their charms? Deciding to make the seventh movie in their franchise the time to find out is probably unorthodox (Minions & Monsters is the third prequel and there are four Despicable Me films, which is how this whole minions craze started), but I do have a reason for the madness. But first — what’s a minion?
In terms of what they look like, most people are probably aware they’re the yellow capsule-looking dudes in goggles and overalls. Out of context, a minion is someone who works for someone else – not necessarily a villain, but in the case of the minions, finding a Big Boss to follow is the goal. The more evil the boss, the better.
Really, it’s all in the name, but sometimes the simplest answers take a minute to register, and I don’t know that I realised working for “bad” guys is their whole agenda.
Except that’s where James and Henry differ from other minions, and what Pierre Coffin‘s Monsters & Minions is all about (Coffin voices all of the minions as well). Henry and (specifically) James are artists and, once he realises being a director is an option, that’s exactly the career James wants to have. This rubs some of their single goal-oriented peers the wrong way, however, leaving Henry and James to fend for themselves in 1920s Hollywood (there’s also a third minion, Ed, who joins them).
It’s this 1920s Hollywood setting that caught my attention, and for an amazing rundown of all the film references in this movie, I direct readers to Marya E. Gates’ article. There are a ton of cameos from silent movie stars, like Charlie Chaplin and Buster Keaton, and the opening credits inserting the minions into some of the earliest films, like Georges Méliès’ A Trip to the Moon, is genius.
Minions are still minions, though, and while the groundwork for a gay reading of James and Henry’s relationship is there (which is more important than ever with the censorship going on around LGBTQ+ characters in children’s media), and it’s wonderful to see the Deaf community recognized with Ed, who’s hard of hearing, the juvenile jokes and antics (with Henry accidentally summoning a Lovecraftian monster from a wizard’s spellbook), unfortunately, fell flat for me. Admittedly, I am not the target audience, and the animation itself is vividly beautiful, but if ever I was going to connect with a Minions movie, this would’ve been the one. They just aren’t my animated heroes, as much as I can appreciate the craftsmanship and love of classic cinema that went into this particular installment (with James likely being a nod to Showboat and Frankenstein director James Whale).
That being said, I do like how seriously the bonus features were taken with this Blu-ray (I also didn’t realise the animation studio that creates these films, Illumination, is based in Paris until a few of the animators spoke French). The point is, though, rather than not include those animators because it would require subtitles, an effort is made to actually explain the different roles that go into making an animated movie so that children (and adults) can imagine themselves into those roles. You see the job title “head of story” for example, and it’s not necessarily obvious what that means, but it evidently involves working on the storyboards. “Casting Minions & Monsters” includes footage of some of the voice actors in the recording booth, including Trey Parker holding up his upper lip while reading lines as Goomi, while “Hollywood Sound” shines a spotlight on composer John Powell. There’s also a lot of encouragement for kids to try drawing and animation for themselves, with how-to guides on how to make a flip book, slime, and also how to draw the characters from the head of story, Nima Azarba. If even one kid is inspired to pick up a pencil as a result, it’s an incredible accomplishment, and one Minions & Monsters can be proud of.
Minions & Monsters is available to own on Digital now and on 4K Ultra HD, Blu-ray™, and DVD on September 8. The Blu-ray comes with a code for a digital copy of the film.
