Is ‘Minions & Monsters’ Family-Friendly? 3 Things Parents Should Know

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It's the 7th Film in the Franchise, but …

Minions & Monsters is the seventh movie in the Despicable Me franchise but the third Minions-specific spinoff, following 2015’s Minions and 2022’s Minions: The Rise of Gru.

The four primary Despicable Me films remain the most-loved animated movie series in my family, thanks to their redemptive arc (villain Gru turns good) and their family-centered themes (he adopts three orphaned girls and eventually gets married).

But while those four movies are filled with heartfelt moments and meaningful lessons that tug at your heart, the Minions movies tug at your, well, funny bone. The Minions films are light on plot and heavy on slapstick, packing one goofy gag after another into a stream of hilarious antics that will make even the most jaded moviegoer laugh.

Don't take the family to Minions & Monsters expecting emotional depth, though. The film is like cotton candy for the brain: sweet and undeniably fun – but definitely not nourishing.

One final point: There’s no need to see any of the other films before you go. This one stands perfectly well on its own.

Photo Credit: ©Illumination

It's Hilarious, not Serious – and that's the Point

The film opens with a narrator describing the history of the Minions: They've roamed the planet for as long as anyone can remember, searching for the perfect villain to serve. That quest landed them under the command of a giant cyclops, a powerful wizard, a mummy, and a pirate. Yet each time, the Minions got fired, largely because of the antics of two specific ones: James and Henry. James is the goofball with a gift for spinning great stories. Henry is the loyal sidekick who laughs at everything James says. Before long, the two become inseparable friends. (The Minions, if you’re curious, apparently never die.)

The Minions' search for the greatest villains eventually brings them to Hollywood, where they pursue make-believe bad guys and accidentally stumble onto a 1920s-era movie set. Although the director initially believes they've ruined his scene, his studio bosses – the larger-than-life Bright Brothers – think the Minions are hilarious and insist they star in more films.

Of course, James isn't content with simply starring in movies – he wants to direct one. And he definitely doesn't want fake monsters. So he pulls a magical spellbook from his stash and conjures a series of creatures he naively believes will be perfect actors. Instead, several of them prove to be all too real, determined to devour anyone in their path and destroy everything they see. Meanwhile, the other Minions encounter a real-life alien named Dort (Jesse Eisenberg), who arrives intent on conquering Earth but gets sidetracked when he falls in love with a suffragist protester.

The question soon becomes: Will humanity survive – and will James ever finish his movie?

The film is packed with comical scenes that only Minions could pull off. Their firing by the cyclops comes after he accidentally steps on a Lego-like toy James built, suffering injuries that leave him confined to a wheelchair. Their dismissal by the pirate follows another mishap that ends with him being devoured by sharks. Later, they stumble onto a movie set and into a scene with axe-wielding barbarians. The script calls for the Minions to run away, but instead, they pulverize the barbarians, leaving the stunned director speechless.

Photo Credit: ©Illumination

It Has a Few Content Concerns

The film's 1920s backdrop is a fun trip back in time, with vintage automobiles sharing the road with horse-drawn wagons, biplanes soaring overhead, suffragist protesters marching through Los Angeles, and Hollywood transitioning from silent films to talkies (the Minions get fired because they can't deliver their lines). We even get a cameo by George Lucas of Star Wars fame.

But the movie includes a few elements that may concern parents – particularly its inclusion of a wizard and a magical spellbook used to conjure monsters and cast spells. Although the wizard appears only briefly near the beginning, the spellbook remains central to the story and bears all the hallmarks of magical power: its words glow whenever a spell is cast, and, seconds later, a monster appears. Of course, it’s all played for laughs, but some families won't find its portrayal of magic amusing.

The film also includes brief language (the phrase “handsome b––rd”) and is the first in the franchise to carry a language warning. As in previous films, viewers see plenty of the Minions' bare backsides. A mid-credits scene also shows a completely nude Gru, although he covers his privates.

Minions & Monsters offers exactly what fans of the franchise expect: nonstop slapstick, goofy humor, and delightfully absurd antics. The Minions are still better as co-stars than leading characters, and the movie has virtually no deeper theme or message. But if you're looking for 90 minutes of laughs and popcorn entertainment, this one fits the bill.

Rated PG for violence/action, language, and rude/macabre humor. Language: b----rd (1).

Entertainment rating: 3 out of 5 stars. Family-friendly rating: 4 out of 5 stars. 

Photo Credit: ©Illumination