Minions & Monsters just did something no Despicable Me film has ever done before. The latest Illumination installment scored a franchise-best rating on Rotten Tomatoes, surpassing every previous entry by a wide margin.
The Minions & Monsters Tomatometer score leads all seven franchise films
Minions & Monsters holds an 89% Tomatometer score on Rotten Tomatoes based on 54 reviews. The score makes it the highest-rated entry across all seven films in the franchise, according to Rotten Tomatoes. The film opened in theaters on Jul 1, 2026.
The previous franchise high belonged to the original Despicable Me from 2010. That film holds a Certified Fresh score of 80% on the platform. Despicable Me 2 follows with a 75% Certified Fresh rating from 2013.
Meanwhile, Minions: The Rise of Gru sits at 70% from its 2022 release. Despicable Me 3 earned a 58% score in 2017. The 2015 Minions film holds a 55% Rotten score. Despicable Me 4 from 2024 rounds out the franchise at 56%.
The Rotten Tomatoes critics consensus calls Minions & Monsters the “franchise’s most roundly enjoyable entry yet.” It also describes the film as “an affectionate and charming sendup of moviemaking magic.” Pierre Coffin directed the animated feature with a 1 hour 30 minute runtime.
The voice cast features Allison Janney, Christoph Waltz, Jeff Bridges, Jesse Eisenberg, and Zoey Deutch. Christopher Meledandri and Bill Ryan produced the Illumination Entertainment film. Brian Lynch and Pierre Coffin wrote the screenplay together.
Reviewer Clint Worthington of RogerEbert.com gave the film 3.5 out of 4 stars. Drew Taylor of TheWrap wrote that Minions & Monsters “could be the best in the franchise, perhaps since the very first Despicable Me.” Odie Henderson of the Boston Globe awarded it 3 out of 4, noting the “90-minute runtime is also a big plus.” Universal Pictures distributed the PG-rated film. The audience Popcornmeter score remains pending with over 100 verified ratings submitted so far.
