20 Recent Movie Sequels We Were ALL Wrong About

20. Minions & Monsters

There was no reason to expect anything other than business as usual from Minions & Monsters - more inoffensive yet ultimately shallow and forgettable shenanigans involving everyone's favourite yellow, pellet-shaped little guys.

Yet to the surprise of many, the seventh film in the Despicable Me franchise released to enthusiastically warm reviews from critics, landing a jaw-dropping 89% on the Tomatometer - by far the series' highest rating to date.

What really makes this sequel such a pleasant surprise is how much of a love letter it is to filmmaking itself, as the Minions try to make their own wacky monster movie in Old Hollywood.

The film is absolutely packed to the gills with wink-wink gags for fans of classic cinema, resulting in a sequel that feels decidedly more artistic and heartfelt than its more generically disposable predecessors, ensuring adults will have a far easier time revisiting it ad nauseam with their kids.

Whether this charts a more thoughtful new direction for the franchise or is just a cute one-off, however, remains to be seen.