Minions and Monsters opens by technically showing the yellow creatures serving various evil masters through time until they run out of them…
…but since they end up in the 1920s, and on film sets, there’s a ton of movie references before we get there, from a moon with spaceship in eye (apeing Georges Méliès’ 1902 film, A Trip to the Moon), to the Harold Lloyd scenes I remember being reshown on BBC1 during the ’80s, where Lloyd is hanging onto a clock at the side of a building (from 1923’s Safety Last!), and Buster Keaton in 1928’s Steamboat Bill Jr, where the house falls down around him.
In the present day, museum tour guide Olivia (Allison Janney – The Roses) is showing the exhibits to a group of school children, including one for minions Henry and James (Henry James, the author?), insinuating that they’re now dead, yet they seem to live forever. Nothing seemed to bridge the gap between now and a century ago, though.
Anyhoo, it’s also amusing to see a George Lucas exhibit, which is really him in a box, but young kids won’t have a clue who he is.
For Henry, James and co, they end up accidentally photobombing a movie set, then become be film stars when they’re mistakenly believed to be talented, making films including one subtitled: “Part 4: Target Miami Beach”, a callback to Police Academy 4: Assignment Miami Beach; and a more obvious classic film reference with Citizen Kane, where for the Minion onscreen, instead of saying “Rosebud“, he says… “Poop“.
But it’s when they have to get on with a plot that things fall apart, as these two make their own titular “Minions And Monsters” movie, with Dort (apeing Gort from The Day The Earth Stood Still, voiced by Jesse Eisenberg) coming to take over the Earth, even though that wasn’t what Gort was about, anyway.
Add in a green character, Goomi (Trey Parker – South Park: The Stick of Truth on PS3), and Irene, a large, orange, multi-eyed blob monster (hmm… I think I dated her a few years ago), and it all just crashes and bashes its way to the end for way too long a running time, even at 90 minutes.
This is one of those CGI films that’s amusing for about 30 minutes, and then you’re just waiting for it to end. And no, there’s no point leaving part-way through. (a) you don’t know if it’ll improve, (b) you can’t review it if you haven’t seen it all, and (c) I had this planned for 6pm, and The Odyssey for 8pm, so I’d just be sitting about in the lobby during that time.
Meanwhile, someone who SHOULD have been sat in the lobby forever, was a woman and three kids, who came in AFTER the film had started, and since they bumbled all the way up to the back row, they were NOT quiet, AND, as they climbed the stairs, the woman was babbling away on her phone! Get the fuck out!!!!
NOTE: There are both mid- and post-credits scenes. Check out the video below for more!
Minions and Monsters is in cinemas now, and is available to pre-order on Blu-ray and DVD.
Detailed specs:
Cert: 
Running time: 90 minutes
Release date: July 1st 2026
Studio: Dreamworks
Aspect Ratio: 2.39:1
Cinema: Odeon Trafford Centre
Rating: 3/10
Director: Pierre Coffin
Producers: Chris Meledandri, Bill Ryan
Screenplay: Pierre Coffin, Brian Lynch
Music: John Powell
Voice cast:
The Minions: Pierre Coffin
Olivia: Allison Janney
Max: Christoph Waltz
Frank and Elwood: Jeff Bridges
Dort: Jesse Eisenberg
Goomi: Trey Parker
Himself: George Lucas
Debbie: Zoey Deutch
Phillips: Bobby Moynihan
Howard: Phil LaMarr
Reviewer of movies, videogames and music since 1994. Aortic valve operation survivor from the same year. Running DVDfever.co.uk since 2000. Nobel Peace Prize winner 2021.