3.5 stars

Starring: Pierre Coffin, Allison Janney, Jeff Bridges, Christoph Waltz

Rated: PG

In Cinemas: now

In a world where people question the need for a fifth Toy Story, a franchise of unquestioned heart and quality, well might you ask if a third Minions movie and seventh overall Despicable Me instalment is necessary.

Minions & Monsters not only justifies its existence, it sets a high watermark for the babbling yellow creatures in denim overalls.

Talking about those overalls, the global popularity of Minions is confirmed if you ever get a chance to visit Kurashiki in Okayama, birthplace of Japanese denim.

The joint has co-opted the Minions as the official mascot — truly bizarre.

Another more obvious indication of their enduring popularity is the near $18 billion they’ve earned at the box office and in associated merchandise and licensing.

The bloke who’s been there from the start, director and co-creator Pierre Coffin, is finally running the show solo with Minions & Monsters, as well as once more providing the voices of his characters.

Their particular brand of Euro-pidgin is a great source of humour in the films, so give Coffin credit where credit is due.

And keep the kudos coming, because the director had a canny idea to set the latest film in the Golden Age of Hollywood, where we find the Minions have become unlikely stars of the silent movie era.

Under the tutelage of director Max, a Fritz Lang-type played by Christoph Waltz, our heroes rapidly ascend to the apex of the entertainment industry, earning the mansion and adoring fans that come with it.

When studio bosses, the Bright brothers (both voiced by Jeff Bridges), make the transition to talkies, audiences aren’t willing to accept the Minions’ gibberish, and their fame evaporates overnight.

The only solution is to make an epic monster film that will win over the movie-going public, and, luckily, the Minions happen to have an old spell book that will allow them to conjure real monsters.

What could possibly go wrong.

The film’s loving ode to Old Hollywood is glorious to see, and cinephiles will appreciate references to everything from Charlie Chaplin and Buster Keaton to Citizen Kane.

And more than a few live-action movies could learn a thing from Coffin’s patience, with the director giving us an astonishing 45 minutes of exposition before we get into the monsters.

The animation is also incredible, even by the high standards of this franchise.

A subplot involving a sci-fi nerd dressed as an alien (Jesse Eisenberg) is unnecessary, and it maybe gets a bit meta, but it all comes together in the end.

It’s the kind of silliness that will make eight-year-olds cackle with laughter while putting a smile on a parent’s face.