Minions & Monsters – Movie Reviews by Ry!

Minions & Monsters – Slapstick and Storytellers: Welcome to Hollywood

From the grounded to the surreal, stories are a path that are only limited by our imagination.  To step into another world becomes a matter of acceptance … but falling into the tale can lift your mind into something more.  For film, stories become a matter of capturing that innate grip of joy, a push into what is poignant and possible.  For animation, it is bound by the endless … but it becomes more delightful if the fictious can become, meaningful.  In this review, I look at the latest animation film to hit the big screen.  Through a foundation where folly meets purpose, we head off on a tale that becomes more then slapstick.  Even when the outrageous comes forth, Minions & Monsters is an entertaining film that showcases the possibilities of what creative risk can lead to.

As the minions search for a place of their own, one mishap in Hollywood will lead to an adventure of creative choices of what it means to be a storyteller.  Through the aspect of story, it becomes a matter of intent.  Stories are a marvel of possibilities, ranging from the adventure of a hero to the budding love of one boy … one girl.  For anything that grips you to the journey, the riveting aspect moves through the marks of expectation, pushing the limits of what the story comes to be.  For this latest entry in the wider ‘Despicable Me’ franchise, it provides another isolated tale of those lovable minions, but also the details of what it means to creatively serve the audience.  The film begins with a backstory narration, building up the minions clan and their ‘forever’ search to find a master.  After a series of comedic moments, a specific group of minions stumble upon a situation that leads to them becoming involved in the rising film industry of the 1920s in Hollywood.  When this happens, the film layers the ‘forever’ search within the creative hijinks of two minions, James and Henry, as they pursue their love for storytelling.  From here, we move into a second act of film montages mixed in with the typical ‘minions’ slapstick humor, building up each moment through an intuitive nature of what it means to serve.  It is here that the tale slowly rises above its typical predictable hijinks, building up scenes through characterization.  From the film homage (of the 1920s) to the ideals of what it means to be a minion, each sequence stands out through an ironic twist of humor that feels cliché, but becomes a reflection of an indelible cause.  This also breaks any typical nostalgia, weaving the obvious into a creative twist of storytelling … and serving the audience.

As things become affluent in the two layered tales, James and Henry push through a naïve sense of creativity that leads to dire circumstances.  When the ‘threat’ of destruction becomes too real, it leads to a series of comical and physical hijinks that are typical of this series.  As everything comes to head, it builds to a third act of bombastic detail, a triumphant climax and a twist of what it means to be … a film.  Minions & Monsters is a standout entry because of its creative risks.  If you are a fan of this series, slapstick humor or film buff aficionado, this is one for you.  This film is a delightful time at the theaters, one that will have the family smiling in the end.

Full Score – 3.5 out of 5 (Matinee)