MINIONS & MONSTERS (2026)

Genre: CG Animation
Director: Pierre Coffin
Cast: Allison Janney, Christoph Waltz, Jeff Bridges, Jesse Eisenberg, Zoey Deutch, Bobby Moynihan, Phil LaMarr, with Trey Parker and Pierre Coffin
Runtime: 1 hr 25 mins
Rating: PG (Some Violence)
Released By: UIP
Official Website: 

Opening Day: 1 July 2026

Synopsis: Fresh off the worldwide blockbuster success of summer 2024’s funniest comedy, Despicable Me 4, Illumination expands its joyful animated universe with a riotous new chapter, featuring all-new characters, in the biggest global animated franchise in history: Minions & Monsters. This is the rambunctious, ridiculous and totally true story of how the Minions conquered Hollywood, became movie stars, lost everything, unleashed monsters onto the world and then banded together to try and save the planet from the mayhem they had just created.

Movie Review:

"Minions & Monsters" begins with a simple but surprisingly promising idea: what if the Minions, those tiny yellow agents of chaos, found their way into 1920s Hollywood and decided they wanted to make a monster movie? That premise gives Minions co-creator Pierre Coffin the clearest playground the franchise has had in years. Coffin, who directs and again voices the Minions, knows the characters’ limits and strengths better than anyone, and he uses both here. Just when you think the Minions franchise has run out of creative juice, Coffin reinvigorates it by going back to where it all began: Old Hollywood. 

The formula remains intact. There are slapstick gags, gibberish conversations, banana-minded detours, and increasingly frantic set pieces that pile one disaster on top of another. The difference is that this time the nonsense has a shape. Instead of another loose string of skits about yellow troublemakers chasing a villain, "Minions & Monsters" builds its chaos around a genuine love of movies. Coffin and co-writer Brian Lynch turn the Minions into accidental silent-era stars, then let them stumble through the birth of Hollywood myth-making, from Chaplin-style body comedy to "Citizen Kane" jokes that no child will fully understand but many adults will quietly enjoy. 

That is the film’s best trick. It works as a broad cartoon for younger viewers, but it also has enough film-history mischief to keep adults from merely checking their watches. James and Henry, the main Minions this time, are not suddenly deep characters, but they have a wish that makes sense: they want to tell stories. Their dream of making a monster picture gives the film more purpose and direction than "The Rise of Gru", which sometimes felt too tied to the larger "Despicable Me" machinery. "Minions & Monsters" is still noisy and silly, but it is no longer aimless.

The early Hollywood stretch is easily the strongest part. The Minions land on a Western set and, by being exactly as careless as they always are, turn a routine shoot into a mad chase of horses, props, trains and screaming studio workers. A pair of studio bosses, voiced by Jeff Bridges, treat disaster as genius and turn the Minions into overnight stars. It is a sharp little joke about an industry that often cannot tell the difference between art and accident. The silent-film framework also suits the Minions perfectly. They have always been closer to pantomime clowns than normal comic characters, and when the movie leans into that, it gets a clean, bright rhythm.

The best gags come quickly. A Universal studio tour becomes a chance to poke fun at movie history. A George Lucas cameo earns a laugh because it is both unexpected and cheerfully foolish. There is a wonderfully dumb "Citizen Kane" fart joke that may be the most Minions way possible to salute Orson Welles. Later, a tiny Cthulhu-like creature named Goomi turns what should be monster horror into something oddly cute. Even the robot side character Dort, voiced by Jesse Eisenberg, gets laughs from how uselessly brave he tries to be. None of these bits are complicated, and that is part of why they work. 

The movie does lose some spark once the actual monsters take over. The shift from Hollywood satire to save-the-world adventure is fun enough, but also more familiar. Giant creatures crash through things. The Minions panic, babble and accidentally help. The stakes go up, yet the jokes become less surprising. Still, Coffin keeps the pace fast, and the film never sinks into dullness. At 90 minutes, it is short enough to get away with repeating itself, and the animation has a warm, busy energy that makes the period setting feel lively rather than decorative. 

What keeps "Minions & Monsters" from feeling like another piece of franchise product is its affection. Coffin is not trying to turn the Minions into Pixar-style vessels for life lessons, and that is a relief. He understands that their main job is to make children laugh by falling down, misunderstanding danger and treating every crisis like a game. But he also gives their chaos a reason to exist. The film is about the joy of making and watching movies, even when those movies are ridiculous. Its tribute to classic cinema is sincere without becoming stiff.

Parents will still hear plenty of nonsense syllables. Children will still laugh at crashes, shrieks and banana jokes. But the film also gives older viewers the pleasure of seeing the Minions dropped into a world of silent comedy, studio egos and monster-movie shadows. It does not reinvent the franchise, and it does not need to. It simply finds a better frame for what the franchise already does well. "Minions & Monsters" is fast, loud, silly and sometimes strangely sweet. For a seventh entry in a series built on gibberish and pratfalls, that counts as a real creative high.

Movie Rating:

(Minions & Monsters gives the familiar Minions chaos a fresh purpose by turning it into a funny, affectionate 'Old Hollywood adventure' that keeps the slapstick for kids while adding movie-loving jokes for adults)

Review by Gabriel Chong