Monsters, Inc. was a fun movie. It had heart, humor, and a clever story to boot. Its' not one of the best Pixar movies, but I did like it better than Toy Story. Who would have thought 11.5 years later we would get this?
Mike Wazowski (Billy Crystal) is going to the college of his dreams, Monsters University, to study to become a scarer. Starting off, Mike rooms with Randall Boggs (Steve Buscemi) and immediately becomes the highest-graded student in the Scarers class. However, during the final exam, Mike accidentally gets caught in a scare fight with James P. "Sulley" Sullivan (John Goodman) and in the end, gets kicked out of the scaring class along with Sulley. Eager to get back into the class, Mike enrolls for the Scare Games along with Sulley. Realizing he needs a fraternity in order to participate, Mike pushes the not-scary-at-all group, Oozma Kappa into the games. However, in a deal made with the strict headmistress Dean Hardscrabble (Helen Mirren), if Oozma Kappa was to lose, Mike would have to leave Monsters University forever. Talk about challenging!
The animation is colorful, cartoony, and realistic all at once. The backgrounds carry a college-esque feel, and the imaginatively-designed characters are well-put in this environment. The screenplay is well-written (a'la Pixar's standards), and carried loads of clever, funny moments (such as some of the faculty having their names rhyme and a monster's ability to have a hilariously funny face). Crystal, Goodman and Buscemi bring back their charm from the first movie and put it in here (even though Goodman may sound a bit older).
The new voice cast does a solid job too, including Nathan Fillion, Charlie Day, Julia Sweeney, Mirren, and many others. Randy Newman does a fabulous job on the music score. There's a handful of very nicely-placed cameos of characters from the first movie, including Roz, Jeff Fungus, and the Abominable Snowman. There are some nicely-placed lessons here on how the failures in our lives make us better people (or in this case, monsters), as well as friendship, honesty and teamwork.
There's not much wrong with Monsters University. I will comment that the films' story, while well-done overall, is surprisingly nowhere near as emotional or poignant as some of Pixar's recent films.
That being said, Monsters University is exactly in line with its' predecessor and another perfectly solid Pixar effort. Yes, its' not Pixar's best film, as its' not as emotionally poignant as Up, WALL-E, Finding Nemo, Toy Story 3, or Brave. Instead, its' a lighter-toned comedy similar to that of Ratatouille, the Cars movies and A Bug's Life. But the films' strong sense of nostalgia makes it better than those four films.
And to those who think the studio has lost its' charm, think again. Even with stronger competition on the market than it was during Monsters, Inc.'s time, the desk lamp hasn't lost any of its' luster.
Should You Take Your Family To See It? Monsters University is safe for kids to watch. There are a few jump-in-your-face moments may scare sensitive preschoolers and a few (relatively tame) college parties may require discussion prior to seeing the movie. Besides that, this is a near-squeaky clean film that's recommended for ages 5 and up. A Level 5 on the Family-Friendliness Scale is well-deserved. Take your whole family to this fun movie!
