Minions & Monsters (2026)

With the world being the joyless slog that it is right now, what the world desperately needs is a minion movie.  This is the third one to feature the Minions in the lead and sees James and Henry attempt to make their own movie but things go wrong when they bring Goomi back. The film feels like a celebration of early cinema.  When the Minions travel to Hollywood during the period of the silent movies and this part was a joy to watch cause there were references to Charlie Chaplin’s Modern Times, Buster Keaton’s house falling on him from Steamboat Bill, Jr and Harold Lloyd hanging from the clock in Safety Last.

I was worried that the Dort part of the story would get in the way of the main story but credit to writers Brian Lynch and Pierre Coffin, the story zips along so fast that there wasnt the time for anything to get in the way of the main plot. I like the trio of James and Henry along with Ed who was deaf and I wonder if that it is it the first deaf Minion. It is hard to dislike the minions as they are funny and adorable even when they are using slapstick violence against each other. 

The jokes are coming at you so fast that its is clear that it is going to require multiple viewings to get everything. Just the portion where all the Minions are in the space pods with one pressing a button and a chicken comes out for…..reasons and then there is another one where two of the minions are sharing a bubble bath The setting is the main reason why things work as well as they do. 

I really enjoyed Minions and Monsters and left the screening in a really good mood which isn't something that happens very often and this is definitely the best animated film I have seen this year. This is a film which on the face of it is a silly 90 minute animated film but has jokes coming at you at such a high rate and yet still work for adults and kids. I am still working my way through the minions films so I don't know yet where this ranks amongst them but rating it on its own I would say that it was a fun film that nods lovingly to the early days of cinema.