Superhero films like “Supergirl” are no longer surefire box office hits. “Minions” movies like “Minions & Monsters,” however, are another matter. What’s surprising is that “Minions & Monsters” is actually very good and fun. What’s more, it’s essentially a secret remake of a huge box office bomb — one we here at /Film are big fans of.
That movie is Damien Chazelle’s “Babylon,” a raucous ride through Old Hollywood that also co-stars Tobey Maguire as a little coke gremlin. It’s a huge, maximalist, hilarious, thrilling movie with some poignant things to say about Hollywood, art, and the diversity of pre-Hays Code cinema. What’s more, it’s a film that ends with an ode to the seventh art via one of the best montages in recent memory — one that even gives a deserved shout-out to James Cameron’s “Avatar.”
So, wait, how does “Minions & Monsters” — a very kid-friendly movie full of fart jokes and nonsensical dialogue — relate to Chazelle’s very R-rated movie? Well, other than the sexual debauchery, the animated film paints a portrait of Old Hollywood that’s quite similar to the one from “Babylon,” including its wild parties. Likewise, “Minions & Monsters” features lots of classic cinema references that will delight cinephiles but definitely go over the heads of its target audience.
The film takes place in 1920 and focuses on Kevin and James (director Pierre Coffin), two Minions who dream of making a movie. When the Minions accidentally crash the filming of a Western, however, they inadvertently become the hottest stars in Tinseltown. Sure, there’s also something about a Cthulhu-like monster hellbent on enslaving humanity and a man dressed as a robot who fights villains, but what’s important here is the first half of the movie, which is basically a kid-friendly “Babylon.”
Minions & Monsters, like Babylon, is a love letter to cinema
“Minions & Monsters” is, improbably, a huge love letter to cinema. You wouldn’t expect this from a “Minions” movie, but it is full of nods to the early history of the medium. Did you know that the Minions were involved in making the earliest movies ever produced? They were at the titular setting of “Workers Leaving The Lumière Factory in Lyon” back in 1895, they were at the the Gare de La Ciotat station when a train pulled into it in 1896’s “L’Arrivée d’un train en gare de La Ciotat,” and one of the Minions even played the Moon in Georges Méliès’ “A Trip to the Moon.”
More so, when the Minions arrive in Hollywood and accidentally make a mess of a Western film shoot, “Minions & Monsters” tips its hat to the Silent Clowns with allusions to Charlie Chaplin’s “Modern Times” and Harold Lloyd’s “Safety Last.” Later on, the movie even makes a fantastic shout-out to “Casablanca” — one that got a loud reaction during its world premiere at the 2026 Annecy Animation Film Festival. That being said, an anachronistic “Citizen Kane” fart joke did go over much better with the audience.
Indeed, the first half of the film sees “Minions & Monsters” combine the kind of silly humor you’d expect from this franchise with genuine love and care for cinema, even replicating some classic film language. Whether it’s capturing the lighting of noir cinema, the lenses and epic scope of biblical epics, or the wide shots of Westerns, it’s bewildering that this year’s big love letter to Hollywood is, well, a “Minions” movie.
But it’s not just the references; it’s the way the film portrays life in Old Hollywood that’s reminiscent of “Babylon.”
Both Minions & Monsters and Babylon explore Hollywood’s transition to sound cinema
Though not as graphic as “Babylon,” the new “Minions” movie follows in its footsteps by portraying both the glamor and debauchery of Old Hollywood. Truly, the Minions know how to party hard; they throw away money like it’s nothing, live it up in a mansion, and establish new trends wherever they go.
If anything, “Minions & Monsters” leaves you wishing it focused more on the Minions being movie stars, as it moves away from that storyline too quickly. Then again, it admittedly does so in order to cover Hollywood’s transition to sound cinema, like “The Artist,” “Singin’ in the Rain,” and, yes, “Babylon” before it. “Minions & Monsters” also knows how to mine the transition to sound for great drama, as this is a fertile period for movies to explore both the pain the transition caused old stars and the opportunities it provided new ones. Obviously, the film doesn’t go to the dark places that “Babylon” does, but it still captures the despair that older actors suffered when they were suddenly forced to use their words. Here, though, it’s very funny to watch the Minions try to deliver serious dialogue from classic film titles by way of Minion speak.
Tragically, “Babylon” was a massive flop — something that even Margot Robbie (who stars in the film) is still struggling to wrap her head around. It really is unfortunate, too, as the movie is incredible. Now, in an ironic turn in the grand Hollywood tradition, a film with similar plotlines and a reverence for Old Hollywood is poised to dominate the box office … and it’s a “Minions” movie.
“Minions & Monsters” is currently playing in theaters.
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