Minions & Monsters Review: A Beautiful Love Letter To B-Movie Cinema

When it comes to the Despicable Me franchise, there was always something limiting about the Minions, especially their own movies. The characters are undeniably funny in small doses, but stretching them into a feature often meant piling one gag on top of another until the novelty started to wear off. In one of 2026’s biggest surprises, Minions and Monsters feels as if it’s giving the Minions something bigger to do and finally understands that those little yellow chaos machines work best when they’re supporting a larger idea rather than carrying the entire movie by themselves. Instead of chasing another world domination story, Pierre Coffin and Brian Lynch turn their attention toward something much more charming: the love of movies themselves.

Set in 1920s Hollywood, the story follows a different tribe of Minions decades before Gru ever entered the picture. James has always been the creative one of the group, constantly sketching and looking for ways to express himself while the other Minions remain focused on finding the next great villain to serve. By complete accident, the tribe stumbles onto a Hollywood film set, where James becomes fascinated by the magic of moviemaking after meeting director Max (Christoph Waltz). The Minions quickly become silent film stars themselves, but their fame disappears almost overnight once talking pictures take over. Refusing to let that be the end of the story, James convinces Henry and Ed to help him make a monster movie of their own. Their search for the perfect creatures introduces them to Gary Orcam Oliver Magma Ichabod the Deceiver (Goomi for short) (Trey Parker), an odd little Cthulhu-like monster who eagerly offers his help, though it’s clear his intentions stretch well beyond appearing in front of a camera.

Once James discovers filmmaking, Minions and Monsters becomes this love letter to cinema, or rather, B-movie monster-making. With its short runtime and overstuffed plot, that idea never loses sight of its own sense of fun. Pierre Coffin clearly has enormous affection for the silent era, and you can feel it in almost every set piece. Much to my surprise, rather than simply throwing in references for adults to point at, the film actually borrows the visual language of that period. Some sequences unfold almost entirely through physical comedy; others switch into black-and-white photography complete with exaggerated expressions and old-fashioned sight gags. If you’ve spent any time watching Charlie Chaplin, Buster Keaton, or Harold Lloyd, you’ll recognize the inspiration immediately. Even if those names mean nothing to younger viewers, the comedy still works because the jokes are built around movement and timing instead of dialogue. It’s also the perfect opportunity for younger audiences to discover another era of filmmaking and comedy.

On top of it all, the animation is gorgeous. There is so much color movement and personality while still embracing the visual language of early cinema whenever it wants to. The black-and-white sequences are especially fun, borrowing from many classics, including Citizen Kane. There are obvious nods to Chaplin, Keaton, and Lloyd, but they’re woven naturally into the storytelling. The slapstick is also much more consistent than I expected. Comedy is always subjective, especially with something as intentionally silly as the Minions, but this is one of the few entries where I found myself laughing and smiling throughout. The film embraces complete absurdity and rarely apologizes for it. Whether it’s James trying to be creative in disastrous ways or the Minions accidentally creating disasters while believing they’re helping, there’s an infectious energy that keeps everything moving.

That energy extends beyond the jokes. The action sequences are inventive, the creature designs are wonderfully imaginative, and the movie constantly finds new visual ideas to throw at the audience. Even during scenes that exist purely to move the plot along, something amusing is usually happening somewhere in the background.

More than anything, I appreciated how sincere the central story is. Beneath all the chaos sits a surprisingly sweet message about following creative passions even when nobody else believes in them. James isn’t chasing fame; he simply wants to make movies because he loves making movies. That enthusiasm becomes contagious, if not relatable. The friendship between James, Henry, and Ed gives the film an emotional center that many previous Minions adventures lacked.

However, the movie occasionally becomes a victim of its own enthusiasm. At barely over ninety minutes, it tries squeezing in multiple storylines, several running gags, monster adventures, Hollywood satire, romance, an alien invasion subplot, and eventually an apocalypse-sized finale. Remarkably, it never completely falls apart, but you can definitely feel the strain or at least the difficulty of fitting everything into one. Certain characters disappear for long stretches before suddenly becoming important again, while others never receive enough attention to fully justify their inclusion.

Dort (Jesse Eisenberg) is probably the clearest example. His storyline is genuinely charming, especially once his relationship with Debbie (Zoey Deutch) develops, but it feels like fragments of a larger arc that had to be condensed. Eisenberg does good work with the voice performance, and I enjoyed the character whenever he appeared, though I kept wishing the movie had given him another ten minutes to breathe.

The biggest disappointment is Goomi. Trey Parker brings plenty of personality to the role, making him funny and lovable for much of the runtime. Unfortunately, the screenplay never turns him into a particularly memorable villain. His motivations are fairly thin; he never feels especially threatening, and once the story reaches its climax, he mostly functions as a way to unleash bigger monsters instead of becoming an interesting antagonist himself. Considering how memorable villains have often been a strength of this franchise, Goomi ends up feeling surprisingly ordinary.

Still, those issues never overshadow what the film does well because its enthusiasm is difficult to resist. There is a genuine affection here for cinema itself. References to Citizen Kane, silent-era filmmaking and classic Universal monster movies are sprinkled throughout without becoming smug or distracting. The movie clearly wants audiences, especially younger ones, to fall in love with the magic of filmmaking just as much as James has. Oddly enough, it reminded me less of previous Minions movies and more of films like Cinema Paradiso and The Fabelmans. Obviously, those comparisons only go so far, but they all share the same belief that movies can inspire people in unexpected ways. This simply expresses that idea through banana-loving yellow creatures and giant monsters.

No, it definitely isn’t perfect. The pacing gets crowded, the villain could have used another rewrite, and some supporting characters never become more than amusing detours. Even so, Minions and Monsters succeeds where so many franchise installments settle for simply repeating themselves. It’s funny, visually gorgeous, and completely committed to celebrating both classic Hollywood and the joy of creating something because you love it. For a franchise that often felt content relying on familiar antics, that’s a welcome surprise.

Minions & Monsters will debut exclusively in theaters on July 1, 2026, courtesy of Universal Pictures.