Pierre Coffin’s Minions & Monsters delivers the usual silliness and madcap fun, while also serving as a surprisingly charming love letter to early Hollywood filmmaking. Yep, they somehow managed to sneak a genuinely entertaining crash course in film history into a Minions movie - with those lovable little yellow pipsqueaks leading the charge. To be clear, this doesn’t reach Pixar-level storytelling, but it absolutely feels like a noticeable step up for this delightfully zany franchise. But don’t worry, amid all the clever nods to silent cinema, classic Hollywood, and behind-the-scenes movie magic (plus plenty of Easter eggs that’ll surely fly over kiddos heads), Minions & Monsters never loses sight of what audiences came for. It's still packed with outrageous slapstick, rapid-fire visual gags, and the infectious brand of playful absurdity that kids (and plenty of adults) can easily latch onto. Simply put, it's more great fun from this enduring series. Ok, so the story is kinda all over the place, taking its sweet time to introduce the central premise and its growing cast of power players (looking at you, Zort). But even when the narrative feels random or scattered, it's such an energetic, relentlessly goofy ride that it's hard not to get swept up in the chaos. And yes, it's about as predictable as animated family movies come, but that's hardly the point. It's obvious everyone involved, including the voice cast, was having an absolute blast (looking at you again, Zort... err, Jesse Eisenberg). So yes, with the Minions back, kids are almost guaranteed to welcome them with open arms. But dare I say it... movie lovers and Hollywood history buffs should too.