Monsters University Review

Ever since the release of Cars 2, the first film in Pixar’s canon to get more negative than positive reviews, fans of the studio have been speculating the studio’s possible decline.  It’s easy to see why: for almost 20 years Pixar has been the standard of computer animation, cranking out films that not only were commercial juggernauts, but garnered the adoration of cinephiles of all ages too, but nothing lasts forever.  Last summer’s Brave was a step in the right direction, but may have disappointed fans by being just good.  Which brings us to Monsters University, a prequel to the 2001 hit Monsters Inc.  Prequels have had a difficult history with Hollywood despite their insistence on making them.  Just mention the phrase “the prequels” and you know what I’m talking about and the connotation isn’t good.  Luckily, Monsters University is a delight, overcoming the obstacles prequel films face and being a great movie in and of itself.

The film details how Mike (voiced by Billy Crystal) and Sulley (voiced by John Goodman) met, while attending the prestigious scaring program at the eponymous school.  Mike has the book smarts, but lacks the confidence in being scary on his own; Sulley has the talent, but lacks the craft because he’s coasting on his family name.  Through bad fortune they wind up pledging a fraternity of underachieving misfits in hopes of redeeming themselves.  Of course, the two opposites end up connecting and working together.  Like any good Pixar film, the high standard for the writing rises above the clichés we all know about college movies—besides the ones you can’t include in a G rated movie.  It also earns the sentiments about friendship, teamwork and accepting our shortcomings that are often so cheesy in films directed to kids, one of the reasons these films have appeal beyond young filmgoers.

Of course when talking Pixar, you have to mention the visuals and for good reason: Monsters University’s visuals are spectacular.  The level of detail in the art direction and the character design is superb (the design of Hardscrabble, a dragon/bat/centipede mix is especially impressive).  Just looking at all they can fit into the frame is a visual feast.  It gets all the details right like the fur of the various characters, which moves like the real thing.  It’s showing off in the best possible way.  Not to mention this film’s color palate is one of the most diverse and brightest I’ve seen in a while.

The voice cast is also top notch, with Crystal, Goodman and Steve Buscemi among others from the first one picking up as if a day hasn’t passed since the original wrapped.  There are a lot of new additions with big name talent like Helen Mirren, Alfred Molinar and Nathan Fillion.  While including more famous actors can be troublesome for many animated films, preferring name recognition over ability to do voice work, Pixar continues to have a good ear for the right voices.

Monsters University works so well as a prequel for a simple reason: it can be its own movie.  Although there are plenty of call backs to the original film for its fans, it’s not enough to hinder the enjoyment for those who haven’t seen it—or in my case, haven’t seen it in a while—and it could work watching them chronologically and treating the original as the sequel.  I’d put it at the level of a Ratatouille, which while not the level of a Wall-E, Up or Incredibles (still waiting on that sequel), is still pretty good.  It’s nice to know that after a little rockiness, the heart of Pixar is still strong.

Grade: B+

Miscellaneous:

Of course there is the opening short film, The Blue Umbrella.  Pixar’s ability to create photo realistic sets is on full display here.  The film itself was good, but the visuals were spectacular.  I’d probably give it about a B overall.  Still worth checking out, especially as Pixar is the best source of short filmmaking around these days.

This could apply to the original film, but I love how the monsters have mundane names.

SPOILERS

As much as I love how Mike and Sulley redeemed themselves scaring the adults at the campsite, I found it refreshing that it wasn’t the magic remedy for Sulley cheating in the Scare Games.  This film doesn’t back down on highlighting failure and the shortcomings of the characters, which helps earn their victories.