Minions & Monsters – Movie Review

TL;DR – Whether you like this film or not will depend on whether you think the Minions are charming or the death rattle of the end of Western Civilisation.

Rating: 3.5 out of 5.

Post-Credit Scene – There are several mid-credit scenes.

Disclosure – I was invited to a press screening of this film.

Minions & Monsters Review Introduction

Over the years, I have been a strong proponent of how much I do enjoy the Despicable Me universe, even if Despicable Me 4 did start to show its age. Part of that is the chaotic energy that is infectious, the bright colours, and a heavy helping of quality slapstick comedy. It doesn’t hurt that I don’t have kids, so I only have to watch them once. But can a spin-off of a spin-off have the power to work? This is what we will look at today.

So, to set the scene, we open as a new museum is opening in Hollywood, looking back at some of the greats of cinema history, for example George Lucas (George Lucas). But the tour group was perplexed to see a statue of two Minions sitting in the exhibition. Well, the tour guide (Allison Janney) said, it is time to get an education about the history of Hollywood. The Minions have one goal: to find a big bad to work for, but one of the Minions, James (Pierre Coffin), had more of a creative side. When they end up in Hollywood, James finds his moment working with Max (Christoph Waltz), a noted film director. But to make James’ magnum opus, they needed a monster, and well, the Minions might have the evil spell book to pull that off.

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Pizza Film – Movie Review

TL;DR – A charming if debauched window into the world of American colleges.

Rating: 3.5 out of 5.

Disclosure – I paid for the Disney+ service to view this film.

Warning – Contains scenes which may cause distress.

Warning – Contains scenes with flashing lights.

A tin of M.I.N.T.S.

Pizza Film Review Introduction

Growing up on the internet at my age meant that at some moment, you came across BriTANicK’s work on YouTube, such as Academy Award Winning Movie Trailer. When you watch someone’s career grow over the years, it is a delight to see when it comes to fruition with their first major feature. Well, that has happened today, and I, of course, have to check it out.  

So, to set the scene, a long time in the past, a delinquent college freshman hid some drugs called M.I.N.T.S. in a slot in their ceiling. Years later, someone new lives in that room, Jack (Gaten Matarazzo), who is hated by the whole college thanks to an incident with the football team, and Montgomery (Sean Giambrone), a quiet, nervous kind of guy, trying to become an alpha. Well, after a particularly awful day, which leads to the drugs getting dislodged from the ceiling, the boys decide to give them a try, not realising you need to have them with food, or six terrible phases will follow. Now, they must make their way down two stories to get the pizza waiting in the lobby before the final phase kicks in, and their lives are destroyed forever. Just hope the RAs don’t pick tonight to start their purge of undesirables.  

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Hoppers – Movie Review

TL;DR – A perfectly charming if conceptually muddied film.

Rating: 3.5 out of 5.

Post-Credit Scene – There is a mid- and end-credit scene.

Disclosure – I was invited to a press screening of this film.

All the animals imitating a sound.

Hoppers Review Introduction

There was a time when Pixar could do no wrong, when every film they dropped was gold, and they were adored at the box office. We are no longer living in that era, with several of Pixar’s recent films being dropped straight to Disney+, which is never a good sign. But we are now jumping back to the cinemas with an original story, and that is worthy of checking out.  

So, to set the scene, Mable (Piper Curda) always grew up with a special connection with her grandmother (Karen Huie). She would take Mable down to a local glade where she could find her calm, watching the animals go about their lives. Well, Mable is now 19, her grandmother is now gone, and the spiteful mayor of Beaverton, Jerry Generazzo (Jon Hamm), is trying to destroy the glade to put up an expressway. Mable is fighting with all her energy, but no one else seems to care, which is when she spots a lone beaver doing something odd. She follows it back to Beaverton University when she discovers her professor, Samantha “Sam” Fairfax (Kathy Najimy), has created Avatar technology allowing you to enter a robot animal and understand the world around you. Well, Mable just needs one beaver to move back into the glade, and she can stop the construction … So maybe it is time to download herself into a robot and try to find that one beaver who can make a difference.

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