Minions & Monsters - 4K Blu-ray Review

[Michael Scott]

Minions & Monsters



Movie:
4K Video:
Video:
Audio:
Extras:
Final Score:


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Movie
While I wasn’t a fan of the last Minions movie, I was a little interested in this one. I love the Despicable Me films, and the Minions are easily the highlight of the films in many ways, but the sequel spinoff that came out later was a bit lackluster. It almost felt like it lost the charm of their characters in Despicable Me, and instead just rode the gags and slapstick humor of the characters into the ground. But Minions & Monsters was taking initiative and swinging for the fences here by dropping our lovable yellow yapping friends into the 1920s, under the guise of them being one of the biggest hits in all of early Hollywood. And in many ways, this is a decent step up from the previous film, though still not hitting it out of the park into the Despicable Me territory (even the 4th film).

Taking the focus off of the rest of the famous minions, this story focuses in on James and Henry, who are less interested in finding an evil boss to serve, but instead focused on drawing stories to entertain people with. And after years and years of jumping from one evil boss to the next (usually because they got them killed, or were kicked out), they end up smack dab in 1920s Hollywood, where Bright Brothers Pictures (obvious wink and a nod to Warner) decides to use them in their silent films. And just like that, overnight the group becomes a success. Frazzled producer Max (Christoph Waltz) has them in everything from war films to romances to murder mysteries, and the public is eating them up. But along comes the era of the “talkies,” and suddenly their crazy voices are a turn-off to the public rather than the instant stardom they were reveling in before.

Out of work, out of ideas, and out of spirits, the minions slink off into the night to try and find another boss. But James is not ready to pull the plug yet, instead landing on the idea of making a giant monster movie themselves, and self-publishing it to the public to prove that they’re not has-beens. Grabbing a gifted camera from Max and an old Wizard’s spell book from centuries ago, the little yellow buggers summon up a Cthulhu monster… only to find out that this little monster is less a monster, and more little than they expected. Named Goomi (Trey Parker, who you can INSTANTLY tell is Trey Parker if you’ve ever watched South Park), the little guy promises to help them out with their monster movie by pointing them in the direction of two monsters he knows are still hanging around, stuck in ice. But little do the minions know that Goomi has plans of his own. Plans that make less use of film, and more of “eating the entire world,” if you know what I mean.

Minions & Monsters has fun with the concept of the Minions in Hollywood, laying forth a picture that winks and nods heavily into the camera with constant homages to the early days of film, from the pompous studio heads, nervous directors, and near non-stop tips of the hat to classic monster movies from the Universal catalog of horror. Sometimes the side stories (such as the Robto Dort, played by Jesse Eisenberg) get a bit overdone, mostly the romance between Debbie and Dort, but overall this is a fun picture with a nice short rruntimeand plenty of Minions gags.

Pierre Coffin, who has been here since the beginning (and still voices all of the minions), has a blast with the direction, using good old Minion gags, but wrapping it in an “out of time” story that focuses on a hundred years in the past instead of using Gru and modern life as a backdrop. And in that respect it actually succeeds far more often than it fails. Using them as a stand-in for a love letter to classic cinema was perfect. And even though some of the gags don’t always land, the use of 1920s Los Angeles works to draw the viewer out of thinking “Ok, this is more of the same”. But again, the Minions ARE a bit worn thin, even though they still make plenty of money from Universal, so I still have to give it a 3.5/5.




Rating:

Rated PG for violence/action, language, and rude/macabre humor.




4K Video: Video:

Yeah, no doubt about it, Minions & Monsters is straight up digital perfection, straight from the proverbial digital tap. I wouldn’t expect anything less from anything coming out of Illumination Studios, and this is no different. There is strong definition all the way around, with incredible details ranging from the curves of the Minions' forms to the gooey nastiness of Irene’s goo-ball form. Suits show off loose fibers and hairs, while the colors will absolutely blast you out of your seat. Primaries are incredibly rich thanks to the Dolby Vision application, and black levels show no signs of crush or banding anywhere. Frankly, I couldn’t find a single issue with the disc anywhere. No noise, nothing. All-around spot-on, a perfect transfer.








Audio:

Given a nice, expansive Dolby Atmos mix just adds icing on top of the technical cake. This is a rich and exciting track, filled with explosions, booms, crashing into things, and general chaos as our Minion friends just cause havoc wherever they go. Monster attacks, planes, and magical spells all fill the sound stage with much aplomb, and with great low end as well. Bass is punchy and tight, but I noticed that until the very end, the bass was nicely balanced. Then when Irene comes out to play, things get a lot louder, VERY fast. Surrounds are used pretty extensively, and the overheads get plenty of workout with all of the chaos. Most of it is discrete sounds instead of just being relegated to just ambient activity.

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Extras:

• MINIONS TAKE ON HOLLYWOOD - Go behind the scenes of MINIONS & MONSTERS as the filmmakers and artists at Illumination reveal the inspiration behind its early Hollywood setting, from story and casting to period research and cutting-edge animation, while introducing a new generation of Minions.
• CASTING MINIONS & MONSTERS - Meet the voices behind the wide array of characters as filmmakers discuss what talent brought to their respective roles and what they hope fans of the franchise take away from the film.
• HOLLYWOOD SOUND - Step into the studio with composer John Powell as he crafts a score inspired by the sweeping sound and timeless style of Hollywood's golden age.
• HOW TO MAKE YOUR OWN IRENE BLOB MONSTER SLIME - Using simple ingredients found at home, follow along with slime influencer Snoopslimes in this step-by-step guide to make your very own Irene blob monster slime to devour anything in its path!
• MOVIE-MAKING MINIONS STYLE - Take a seat in the director's chair and make your very own Minions-inspired monster movie with this simple how-to, using hand-drawn art and flipbook animation to recreate one of the earliest forms of filmmaking.
• HOW TO DRAW -Follow along with head of story Nima Azarba as he teaches you how to draw the Minions, monsters, and more!
-- James
-- Henry
-- Ed
-- Max
-- Dort
-- Goomi
-- Irene
-- Howard
-- Phillips

Final Score: ​

The film isn’t super inventive, but it works within the confines of the goofy Minions causing chaos in our past; thus, it elevates it from the rather boring and cliché The Minions Movie a few years ago. That being said, this is still a fun little kids' movie that is more than tolerable for adults, and the audio/video portions of this film are off the charts. Extras are solid but not super expansive, leaving me with a single thumbs-up recommendation for no other reason than this is picture-perfect video and stunning audio.



Technical Specifications:

Starring: Pierre Coffin, Trey Parker, Allison Janney, George Lucas, Christoph Waltz, Jeff Bridges, Jesse Eisenberg
Directed by: Pierre Coffin
Written by: Brian Lynch, Pierre Coffin
Aspect Ratio: 2.39:1 HEVC
Audio: English: Dolby Atmos (Dolby TrueHD 7.1 Core), French, Spanish DD+ 7.1
Subtitles: English SDH, Spanish, French
Studio: Universal
Rated: PG
Runtime: 90 Minutes
Blu-ray Release Date: September 8th, 2026

Recommendation: Single Thumbs Up