Family films usually give adults something to enjoy while children are caught up in the action. It might be a clever joke, a bit of heart or a message running underneath the story.
Minions & Monsters doesn’t really offer any of that.
The story takes the Minions into 1920s Hollywood, where they become involved in making a monster film before, predictably, real monsters appear, and everything descends into chaos.
It sounds like a fun idea. Unfortunately, it never becomes much more than a lot of noise, running around and Minion gibberish.
There are references to silent movies and classic Hollywood, but most children won’t understand them. Adults might recognise what the filmmakers are doing, but that doesn’t automatically make it funny.
And that’s the main problem. There isn’t enough here for either audience.
Adults are given very little dialogue, humour or meaning to hold their attention. Children get plenty of movement and colour, but the story is too thin to become involving. Even the monsters, which should have added some excitement, become part of the same repetitive stream of crashes, shouting and slapstick.
The Minions work well in smaller doses, particularly when they have stronger characters around them. When asked to carry an entire film, their antics quickly grow tiring.
The absence of Gru and the family relationships from the original Despicable Me films is noticeable. Those films had warmth beneath the silliness. This one feels strangely empty.
Visually, the animation is polished, as you would expect. A film can look good, though, and still be boring.
Minions & Monsters felt like a poor production built around a promising idea that was never properly developed. It was boring for the adults and, judging by the lack of a strong story or memorable moments, likely to be boring for plenty of children too.
OUR RATING:
2/5
