SCOTT DETROW, HOST:
They are canary yellow, shaped like pills and guaranteed to prompt a giggle from most kids.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
PIERRE COFFIN: (As The Minions, shouting).
DETROW: Minions. Critic Bob Mondello says their seventh big-screen adventure, "Minions & Monsters," is arguably their best yet.
BOB MONDELLO, BYLINE: We'd seen the little guys serving villains like Tyrannosaurus rex.
(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "MINIONS")
UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR #1: (As character, roaring).
COFFIN: (As The Minions, shouting).
MONDELLO: So we knew they'd been around since the dawn of time. Here we discovered they were also around at the dawn of cinema.
(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "MINIONS AND MONSTERS")
UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR #2: (As character) In Hollywood, the new stars of the silver screen changed the face of the motion picture industry forever.
MONDELLO: Who knew? But there they are, Zelig-like in 1890s silent classics, apparently unnoticed until the 1920s when they accidentally caused a train wreck in a Western film shoot.
(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "MINIONS AND MONSTERS")
COFFIN: (As The Minions) Toot, toot.
MONDELLO: The director is furious. But when his bosses at the studio think the wreckage is comic gold, he has a change of heart.
(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "MINIONS AND MONSTERS")
CHRISTOPH WALTZ: (As Max) Look, Minions, my name is Max.
COFFIN: (As The Minions) Hello, Max.
WALTZ: (As Max) I'm so sorry about earlier. So I would like to work with you. We should make movies.
COFFIN: (As The Minions) Movies? Movies? Movies?
MONDELLO: Turns out, they're naturals.
(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "MINIONS AND MONSTERS")
WALTZ: (As Max) OK, action.
MONDELLO: They give slapstick ballet-like grace. Their timing is genius. There's art to every crack fall, and a touch of chaos, of course.
(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "MINIONS AND MONSTERS")
COFFIN: (As The Minions, speaking gibberish).
WALTZ: (As Max) That was perfect.
MONDELLO: All of which makes them the toast of silent Hollywood. They live in a grand mansion, appear on screen with Buster Keaton and Harold Lloyd, inspire fashion fads, until the advent of sound.
(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "MINIONS AND MONSTERS")
UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR #3: (As character) Oh, Humphrey.
WALTZ: (As The Minions) Pinata, carbonara, lasagna, (smooching).
MONDELLO: Dialogue, sadly, does not play to Minions' strengths. So they're at a loss until they come up with a comeback plan.
(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "MINIONS AND MONSTERS")
WALTZ: (As Max) You wrote a monster movie?
COFFIN: (As The Minions, speaking gibberish).
WALTZ: (As Max) What are you going to use for your monster?
COFFIN: (As The Minions, blowing raspberry).
MONDELLO: A book of spells they saved from an evil wizard master allows them to conjure actual monsters.
(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "MINIONS AND MONSTERS")
COFFIN: (As The Minions, speaking gibberish).
MONDELLO: And for the second half of the film, we're in more conventional Minions territory. But that first half, a flat-out love letter to old Hollywood, is enough fun that writer and director and original creator and voice of all the Minions, Pierre Coffin, can afford to backslide.
(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "MINIONS AND MONSTERS")
UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR #2: (As character) Now in Minion Vision.
MONDELLO: Homages to B movies and film classics - a spin with Chaplin through the gears of "Modern Times," a romance with a robot from "Day The Earth Stood Still," not to mention an encounter with the shark straight out of "Jaws."
(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "MINIONS AND MONSTERS")
COFFIN: (As The Minions, shouting).
MONDELLO: All goofy enough to delight kids who won't get the references and sophisticated enough to please cinephiles who will, which is a lovely change. The Minions have been coasting on audience goodwill for a few movies now. Here, filmmaker Coffin has an actual idea, and a smart one, since these little agents of chaos have always been throwbacks to the slapstick glories that first made audiences fall for movies.
(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "MINIONS AND MONSTERS")
COFFIN: (As The Minions, speaking gibberish).
MONDELLO: Weird to think that if the kids seeing "Minions & Monsters" now someday watch "Citizen Kane" or "Maltese Falcon" or "Safety Last!" they might flash briefly on little yellow guys in overalls. But, hey, as long as Tinseltown's dream factory is still conjuring dreams, right? I'm Bob Mondello.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "ABRACADABRA")
STEVE MILLER BAND: (Singing) Abra, abracadabra. Abracadabra. Every time you call my name, I heat up like a burning flame. Burning flame full of desire. Kiss me, baby, let the fire get higher, yeah. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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