AllisonJaney – Credits Rolling

Those lovable Minions are back and this time they’re taking on Hollywood! Allow us to travel back in time to the 1920s. The Minions are on a quest to find their new master; they thrive when they have someone to serve. After a slew of mishaps, they stumble onto a movie set and fall in love with cinema. Best friends James and Henry (Pierre Coffin) fall in love with the art and decide to embark on making a film of their own.

Being the third film in the franchise, you would think they would have run out of steam by now. That couldn’t be further from the truth. I could watch a million iterations of these little guys running around doing just about anything and I would never be bored. They are just so funny and cute. Their antics are just way too fun.

This outing chose to pay homage to various cinema genres of yesteryear. From the silent film and film noir, monster movies and musicals, the Minions covered them all in a subtle yet impactful way that cinephiles all over will be able to appreciate. I wouldn’t be surprised if this was one of those films where the more you watch it, the more Easter eggs you uncover and I love that.

Coffin, who not only directed the film, but who lends his voice talents to each Minion character, is once again phenomenal. The way he can differentiate each individual is truly impressive. The supporting cast also delivers great performances. Allison Janey, Christoph Waltz, Jeff Bridges, Jesse Eisenberg and Zoey Deutch all contributed and elevated the material.

Minions & Monsters is a solid entry in the franchise. Choosing to go down a different route with the homage to cinema paid off. It was something new and fresh while still incorporating the usual hilarious hijinks we have come to expect from these films. A fun time for the whole family to enjoy.

Rating: ♥️♥️♥️

Taking place five years after the events of the first film, Another Simple Favor reunites Stephanie Smothers (Anna Kendrick) and Emily Nelson (Blake Lively) for a new mystery. When Emily asks Stephanie to be her maid of honor, Stephanie reluctantly agrees. She’s whisked away to Capri for the celebrations, but when one of the guests is murdered, Stephanie starts to worry that she won’t make it home in one piece.

I was a big fan of the first film. It was quippy, smart and sexy and the cast were phenomenal. This may be the sequel that nobody asked for (I feel like everything was wrapped up well before), but I still found myself looking forward to revisiting this world.

Kendrick and Lively reprise their roles effortlessly. It was like no time had passed at all. They have such a playful and organic chemistry that I could literally watch them for hours. The hijinks that ensued this time around were even more insane and yet it somehow still worked. Another returning face was Henry Goulding’s Sean, Emily’s ex husband and Stephanie’s former paramour. Clearly struggling with what happened in the past, he’s turned to drink. While you can’t help but feel bad for him, he also has some of the best lines in the whole film. There are some new players this time around: Allison Janey is Emily’s offbeat aunt Linda, Alex Newell is Stephanie’s bubbly assistant Vicky and Michele Morrone is Emily’s new beau the elusive Dante Versano. They each fit in perfectly.

Some may say that there’s too much going on this time around. There’s more twists, more turns and not all of them make sense, but that’s okay. As long as you allow yourself to lean into it, I think it is much more enjoyable. There’s a lot of really fun callbacks to the original as well which I appreciated. I also need to give a shoutout to the outfits that were worn by the cast. Absolutely beautiful.

If it wasn’t for Paul Feig, I probably wouldn’t have even bothered with Another Simple Favor. At least having him at the helm meant that we’d be in safe hands. Set against the beautiful backdrop of Capri with brilliant lead performances by our two leading ladies and the over the top story it seemed like it could all fall apart. Luckily that was far from being the case.

Rating: ♥️♥️♥️.5