(Image: Illumination Entertainment)
(This article contains spoilers.)
I've always preferred the "Minions" spinoffs to the main "Despicable Me" franchise. For one, the quality has remained more consistent (the "Despicable Me" series went downhill fast starting with its third entry), and for another, the "Minions" films always feel steeped in a richer retro nostalgia. It's especially fun watching the Minions navigate the cultures and customs of different eras and countries. This isn't entirely a deliberate choice; as a spinoff, the series is largely limited to telling stories before the Minions met Gru. Since they began following him when he was just a boy, the timeline can't advance too far forward—the second film, for instance, featured a young Gru and started to feel more like a prequel to the main series.
Illumination Entertainment is clearly self-aware. Continuing to focus on the Minions and a young Gru would fully transform the series into a "Despicable Me" prequel, once again relegating the Minions to supporting roles. Therefore, the third installment, "Minions & Monsters," rewinds the clock to an era far earlier than the first film. Gru is nowhere to be found, as the Minions are still searching for an evil master they won't accidentally kill. After wreaking havoc in 1960s Britain and Nixon-era America in the first film and jumping to the 70s in the second, the third outing takes us back to the Golden Age of Hollywood, before the 1950s.
(Image: Illumination Entertainment)
In some ways, the third film's narrative style is akin to the "Scary Movie" or "The Naked Gun" series. This time, Illumination doesn't just use the era as a backdrop or for occasional historical cameos; they've woven a massive collection of classic movie scenes from that period directly into the story, stringing them together through parody and homage. Yet, the film avoids becoming a mere parody reel. It maintains a central plot that logically connects all the gags. Frankly, inserting these parodies is a bit of a self-indulgent move, as most of the targets are films that today's children—and even many adults under 30—haven't seen or wouldn't recognize. But that doesn't matter. Illumination has earned the right to be indulgent.
They can afford this indulgence for two reasons. First, the Minions are a massive brand with guaranteed box office appeal; no matter what they do, their dedicated audience will be laughing their heads off. Second, the Minions' charm stems from a very traditional form of comedy: slapstick. Slapstick comedy has virtually no cultural barriers and is universally understood. Any audience finds it hilarious to watch characters perform exaggeratedly foolish acts, suffer cartoonish violence, or cause others to suffer the same, all without needing a single line of dialogue to explain the plot. You could basically say the Minions are the spiritual successors to cartoons like "Tom and Jerry."
(Image: Illumination Entertainment)
This spirit of slapstick also makes the "Minions" franchise a perfect vehicle for a tribute to the classic Hollywood era. Even "Despicable Me" series director Pierre Coffin has admitted that the Minions were inspired by slapstick, and "Minions & Monsters" gives the creators a golden opportunity to honor those roots. From the moment the Minions arrive in Hollywood with a train crash, the film recreates famous slapstick moments like the collapsing house from Buster Keaton's "Steamboat Bill, Jr." and Harold Lloyd clinging to the clock hands in "Safety Last!" The film even features animated cameos from Keaton, Lloyd, and Charlie Chaplin, who help stop the Minions' runaway train.
The Minions' unintelligible language also perfectly sets up a rise-and-fall Hollywood story arc for them. In recent years, films like "The Artist" and "Babylon" have served as love letters to the industry, depicting the struggles of silent film actors who were phased out by the arrival of "talkies." Illumination cleverly has the Minions accidentally become silent-era superstars, only to face obsolescence because they can't speak dialogue anyone can understand. The theme of this installment may seem random at first, but it feels almost destined, making the Minions an unexpectedly perfect medium for this kind of cinematic love letter.
(Image: Illumination Entertainment)
However, while "Minions & Monsters" is nominally set during the transition from silent films to talkies in the late 1920s, it deliberately blurs historical accuracy to include parodies of works from later decades. For example, a fast-paced slapstick chase sequence specifically mimics the 1950s TV version of "The Lone Ranger" and its use of the "William Tell Overture." The final boss monster, "The Eye-Ling," is based on the slime creature from the 50s sci-fi film "The Blob." (To trace it back to its ultimate source, both The Eye-Ling and another creature, Cthulhu-Gummy, are derived from Lovecraftian horror.)
But the most heavily parodied film of all is the 1951 original version of "The Day the Earth Stood Still." Illumination introduces a character named Dort, a blatant spoof of the robot Gort, and gives him a complete romantic comedy storyline. This plot essentially lifts the arc of the alien Klaatu from both the 1951 and 2008 versions of the film, having Dort rent a room on Earth and meet a woman who convinces him to abandon his plans for planetary destruction.
(Image: Illumination Entertainment)
For modern audiences, parodying "The Day the Earth Stood Still" is an incredibly niche and dated choice. But Illumination was already ahead of this, cleverly framing Dort as a sci-fi geek who just seems to enjoy cosplay. As a result, his threats to conquer Earth come off as hilarious delusions, making the jokes land even if you don't know the source material. The coolest part, however, is how Illumination manages to play with the expectations of both those who have and haven't seen the original film. Everyone initially assumes Dort is bluffing, only for the final act to reveal that every crazy thing he said was true.
I absolutely love the Minions, and "Minions & Monsters" completely met my expectations. The most important spirit of this series is to have fun, and this installment is an absolute blast. It offers deep satisfaction for old-school film buffs who will love seeing classics like "Citizen Kane" and studios like Warner Bros. get the parody treatment, as well as for kids who just want to see the Minions do silly things. Pixar, DreamWorks, Sony Pictures Animation, and Warner Bros. Animation must be green with envy. Illumination can casually send the Minions out to mess around and effortlessly rake in a billion dollars at the box office, without needing to meticulously polish the plot or art design, or pursue cutting-edge animation rendering. But that's the magic of slapstick. The old-school performance art still works today, and because Illumination was the one studio that thought to revive it with new characters, they're the ones cashing all the checks.