Minions & Monsters (dir. Pierre Coffin)

by Jack Martin | Jul 4, 2026

Certificate: U

Running Time: 90 mins

UK Distributor: Universal Pictures

UK Release Date: 1 July 2026

WHO’S IN MINIONS & MONSTERS?

Pierre Coffin, Trey Parker, Jesse Eisenberg, Zoey Deutch, Allison Janney, Bobby Moynihan, Phil LaMarr, Christoph Waltz, Jeff Bridges

WHO’S BEHIND THE CAMERA?

Pierre Coffin (director, writer), Brian Lynch (writer), Christopher Meledandri and Bill Ryan (producers), John Powell (composer), Gregory Perler (editor)

WHAT’S IT ABOUT?

In 1920s Hollywood, the Minions unleash chaos when they attempt to make a monster movie…

WHAT ARE MY THOUGHTS ON MINIONS & MONSTERS?

Since they first came onto the scene in 2010’s Despicable Me, the Minions have become as iconic as some of the most classic cartoon characters from early-to-mid 20th century cinema. But while they are funny and appealing in their own right, I do believe that the secret to both their success and their longevity lies in those very classic characters. Whether it’s Bugs Bunny, or Mickey Mouse, or Woody Woodpecker, or Tom and Jerry (and so on), they have all endured because not only is their brand of slapstick comedy rather timeless, but they also fully embrace the fact that they are cartoons, and are therefore capable of going to lengths that few real-life comedic performers could realistically go themselves. The same goes for the Minions themselves, who are the closest we’ve come in this day and age to replicating the zany spirit of those historic characters.

More than in all their previous big-screen appearances, including their own two prior spin-off movies, Minions & Monsters utilises those yellow gibberish-speaking creatures exactly how their most classic inspirations once were. In doing so, director, co-writer and voice of the Minions themselves Pierre Coffin has gifted his creations with more than just their best movie: it is also a shining love letter to the Old Hollywood era that birthed all these hand-drawn characters who paved the way for these modern-day cartoon icons to carry on their legacy.

We follow a tribe of Minions as they scour the globe across history looking for an evil master to serve, but more often than not their antics end up putting them out of a job (in increasingly hilarious and even grim fashion). That is, until they reach 1920s Hollywood, where their penchant for physical slapstick grants them the opportunity to become silent movie stars, much to the delight of two Minion pals named James and Henry whose vivid imagination has long been a burden for their tribe but is now a creative outlet for their movie careers. However, once the introduction of sounds cuts their stardom short (amusingly, like many silent-era actors, their nonsensical dialect turns out to be their downfall), James and Henry hatch a plan to create their own monster movie to win back Hollywood’s favour, but upon summoning a fierce, albeit short in stature, demon named Goomi (voiced by Trey Parker) to play their monster, the stage is set for all sorts of chaos involving – what else? – Minions and monsters.

From the opening logos and titles that harken back to the very beginning of cinema, with visual references to the works of silent movie pioneers Georges Méliès and the Lumière Brothers, Coffin makes his mission statement more than apparent: to pay homage to that long-gone filmmaking era, and educate younger viewers about much of it through the antics of the Minions. It’s a rather ingenious idea on the part of Coffin and co-writer Brian Lynch, since it opens up the possibility of future cinephiles to look back on this – a Minions movie, of all things – as their introduction to cinema and its rich history, all while being genuine about its admiration for Old Hollywood in all its zany glory, including and especially the slapstick-heavy cartoons that were a dime a dozen around this point in time. Even full-grown film buffs will enjoy the various callbacks to classic cinema, among them a Citizen Kane gag that comes complete with almost shot-for-shot recreations of certain shots, without feeling as though they’re being bombarded with references left and right (which, to a degree, they are, but at least they’re the kind of references that fit this kind of film).

Beyond its infectious ode to cinema, Minions & Monsters genuinely works as a good film in its own right, one that actually finds a way to turn the Minions themselves into characters who you can follow along with and even understand even though almost nothing that comes out of their mouths is intelligible. You immediately pick up on the friendship that James and Henry share, as well as certain disagreements they may have or even more sombre emotional expressions, with Coffin giving each Minion a distinct tone of voice that makes it easy to tell them apart as characters with their own distinct personalities, which is no small feat for a race of creatures that all share the same(ish) design and even voice actor. There are also a lot of fun new supporting characters who each get their fair share of laughs, a standout being Jesse Eisenberg as an insecure robotic being who’s as if Gort from The Day the Earth Stood Still had the voice and mannerisms of Marvin the Martian, which Eisenberg’s near-unrecognisable vocals only add to the hilarity.

While the movie is very funny, perhaps among the funniest in this entire franchise (and certainly among the Minions’ own movies), it is most of all extremely endearing. As someone who grew up on a lot of those classic Looney Tunes and Tom & Jerry cartoons, seeing that kind of animated slapstick be so lovingly replicated while still leaving room to form its own comedic identity was thrilling, enough for me to feel once more like a child giggling at all the zany fast-paced action. Even amidst its few flaws – for instance, it is fairly light when it comes to anything beside its colourful comedy, though you could say that about any other Illumination film – I found myself reconnecting with my inner child and just having a blast with them as we watch the Minions do their thing while being reminded of all the classic cartoons that allowed them to exist in the first place.

That alone is reason enough to declare Minions & Monsters the crowning achievement of this whole franchise, and (hopefully) with Coffin firmly at the helm of their misadventures going forward, the Minions could well be on the path toward even greater cartoon infamy than the level they’re already at.

SO, TO SUM UP…

Minions & Monsters is not just the funniest film in the Despicable Me spin-off franchise, with hilarious slapstick that could rival classic cartoons, but with its genuinely endearing celebration of Old Hollywood and the history of cinema, as well as characters who are fun and loveable in their own right, it may also be the best of the entire series.