Minions & Monsters (PG) – 90 minutes

Let’s start with a simple question. What is the Minions’ mantra?

If your answer is to find the most evil boss of their time to serve, you get an elephant stamp.

But what would any Minion worth his salt do along the way? Create mayhem, of course.

So it is that this seventh film in the franchise, dating back to Despicable Me in 2010, is built on the contention that Minions have always been around.

Grainy black and white footage at the start of the movie – a nice touch – gives the Minions a historical context.

And then we watch how one Minion in particular, whose name is James (voiced by Pierre Coffin), consistency mucks up.

James manages to dispense with a series of historic evil bosses along the way.

As a result, he is ostracised by his fellow Minions.

Mind you, he does befriend one Minion who sees the funny side of James’ failings.

His name is Henry (also voiced by Pierre Coffin) and the two become besties, doing everything together and having each other’s backs.

So it is that in time – and without an evil boss to call their own – the Minions make it to Hollywood back in silent era.

There they create chaos anew on the set of a movie, which has the director, Max (Christoph Waltz), worried that he will be sacked by the studio bosses. 

Instead, the Minions become the talk of the town and the studio bosses are ecstatic … until they are not.

That is when James – who likes drawing and painting – decides it is time to branch out on his own, with Henry’s help, of course.

He comes up with the bright idea of casting Minions opposite Monsters, conjuring up the latter with the help of an old spell book from a former evil master.

So it is that we – the audience – are introduced to a series of colourful characters.

They include an alien robot named Dort (Jesse Eisenberg) and a deceptively cute tiny green monster called Goomi (Trey Parker). 

Behind the storyline is a Hollywood studio tour being conducted by Hollywood insider and guide Olivia (as voiced by Allison Janey).

Olivia is shocked when she discovers that those assembled have no knowledge of the exploits of James and Henry, and so she relays their story.

With a screenplay by Pierre Coffin and Brian Lynch, and direction by Coffin and Patrick Delage, there is a lot to like about this latest Minions movie.

First up, it covers a lot of ground. Secondly, it moves along at pace. Thirdly, it introduces a host of new characters. Fourth, it is oh so colourful (it always is).

And it is just so much fun watching the good-natured, but inept, Minions doing their thing.

As I see it, Minions is the gift that keeps on giving.

As long as the filmmakers can continue to come up with far-fetched but relatable storylines, why wouldn’t the series live on for many years?

Before this latest instalment, it already held the record for the highest grossing animated franchise of all time, having collected US$5.5 billion. 

Add to that the fact the Minions are a merchandiser’s dream.

In this case, I particularly enjoyed the nod to Hollywood, which was well conceived and executed.

I also appreciated the originality of the material. This is significantly different from the Minion movies that came before it.

And, in case, you are wondering whether the villain from Despicable Me gets a look in, you will just have to buy a ticket to Minions & Monsters to find out.

Rated PG, it scores a 7 out of 10.