Monsters University is here! 12 years after the release of one of the most creative children's movies ever, its prequel comes to theaters. Like I said, the original Monsters Inc. was a movie that I loved, and still love to this day. It came out when I was seven years-old. And now I'm 18. I have often talked about my love for Pixar, particularly the early films (Toy Story and its sequels, A Bug's Life, Finding Nemo, The Incredibles, and Monsters Inc.), and well, I think pretty much everyone loves Pixar. Like I said, their films have been so creative and inventive. In the fall, I watched a documentary called, The Pixar Story, which storied the journey John Lasseter and Pixar has gone through to get to where they were at the time (it was released some time after Cars and before Ratatouille). I HIGHLY recommend that documentary. But Pixar was a big part of my childhood, and I loved Monsters Inc. and still love it to this day. And it was a genius idea too. A world of monsters has doors that take them in to the human world, where they must scare children in order to create energy and power to run the monsters' world. Great idea, because kids often fear that there is a monster hiding in their closet, or underneath their bed.
Pixar has set the bar high. They have had so many brilliant films. Toy Story 3 was one of their all-time bests. One of my buddies will often say that he had that as the best film of 2010, a year that featured films including The Fighter, The Town, Inception, and.... Grown Ups! Okay, kidding on that last one. But Toy Story 3 blew people away, including myself, and left many of us in tears. However, since then, many have been disappointed with Pixar. Their last two entries were Cars 2 and Brave. While I can't speak for Brave, as I never saw it and it didn't interest me, I can tell you that Cars 2 was embarrassing to say the least. Too much Larry the Cable Guy. I was surprised by out of all these great films they've made, they chose to make a sequel out of the one that seemed to be the least popular by the public at the time. Well, not too long after Cars 2, it became more clear to us that Pixar was going to be working on more sequels (and prequels) to films. A prequel to Monsters Inc. and a sequel to Finding Nemo were announced. There have also been rumors and reports that a sequel to The Incredibles and a fourth Toy Story film could also be in the works. My personal favorite of all the Pixar films is A Bug's Life and I have always wanted there to be a sequel for the film. It appears very unlikely, but with more sequels coming, you never really know.
So as I was saying, Pixar took one of their best ideas and turned it in to a prequel. First off, it's great that they did a prequel rather than a sequel, because the ending of Monsters Inc. was perfect. And the idea for this prequel was great too. This film was a huge deal when I was a little kid, and now I'm in college, so what is the main plot point of the prequel? College! Yes, a genius idea from the producers. The film won't just be targeted to little kids, but the college kids who grew up on the film will be excited to see this too. Pixar knows what its doing, and it did the same sort of thing in Toy Story 3. So here we are. And without any more of me rambling on, let me actually start to review this film.
So Monsters University opens by showing Mike Wazowski as a little kid. His class is on a field trip to the scare factory where the monsters do what they do, and he doesn't seem to have any friends. No one pays attention to him, and you feel bad for the little guy. Some of the monsters walk in, and you see that they are the heroes. They are like the celebrities and athletes of this monster world. Mike collects trading cards of the monsters, like what baseball cards were to me as a little guy. He knows all the records, and who all the best scarers are. So these monsters walk in, and there's a line the teacher tells the students they can't cross, for safety purposes. Well, Mike crosses that line. And it reminded me of the scene where Nemo touches "the butt" in Finding Nemo. He sneaks in to a door with one of the monsters, hides in the back, and comes out with the monster when he's done with the scare. He's fascinated by the actual scare, and when he comes out, the guy sits him down for a sec and says "you can't do that little guy, that's dangerous... but wow, I didn't even notice you were in there." He smiles and takes the Monsters University hat off his head and gives it to little Mike, and Mike cherishes it for years to come. This was a cute little scene, and it's also cute how much Mike values the hat.
Fast forward, and Mike's a freshman in college, enrolling at his dream school, Monsters University. He's majoring in scaring, and then he meets Jimmy "Sulley" Sullivan. They are two very different monsters. Mike's the little guy who works hard, studies hard, and knows it all. Sulley's the son of a legendary scarer, a big guy with a big roar, and he coasts through life. He doesn't try hard and he doesn't study. And over time, they develop a bit of a rivalry, and eventually they really dislike each other. After a mishap on the day of their most important final, they are no longer allowed to be scare majors.
Second semester comes around and "The Scare Games" begin. The Scare Games is a tournament in which fraternities compete, to see who the toughest monsters are. Mike offers a wager to the dean of admissions: win the Scare Games, and he's a scare major once again. Lose, and Mike can no longer attend Monsters U. In order for each frat to compete, they need six members, and Mike's team only has 5. At the last second, Sulley asks to join, and the two are forced to work together. Also, I should add that Mike's team is the team of misfits. They're the nerds, and the heavy underdogs in the contest.
And that's all I will reveal about the plot. So what do I have to say about this film? Well, I loved it. The whole college feel was really fun, and relatable for me. It poked fun at some college stuff. I loved when they showed Mike's RA at the beginning, acting as well, a stereotypical RA. I think because of the college stuff, teenagers and young adults will enjoy the film too.
The story's good. There comes a point where you think the film's about to end, and then there are some big surprises. The last half hour was spectacular and very similar to the original film. This film was also really funny. Something I love about Mike is that well, he's a comedian. He's a really funny character. When my family is in Orlando, one of our favorite things in Disney World is his comedy show called "The Laugh Floor". I'd highly recommend that to anyone that is visiting Disney World any time soon.
It's also great that Billy Crystal and John Goodman returned to voice their original roles, providing a great team that can compete with Tom Hanks and Tim Allen as Buzz and Woody for best Pixar dynamic duo. These guys are fun and they're great.
There are also some good Pixar Easter eggs, and some throwbacks to the original film. Pay attention to them. Other than that, I'm not sure what else to say. I don't want to spoil anything else. But what I can say is that I loved this movie. Is it as great as the original? No. But you knew that coming in. The original was a masterpiece. This was really fun, and a really, really good movie. It keeps you entertained. At no point are you checking your watch and getting bored, but instead, a part of you doesn't really want it to end. There are also some good new funny characters. And some other characters from the original film make appearances. I don't want to spoil anything else for anyone.
But do yourself a favor, and SEE THIS MOVIE. A lot of people reading this are probably thinking, "oh, that's kid stuff", or whatever. What's great about Pixar movies is that adults like them too, and with this films college themes, I think just about anyone that goes in to see this film will have fun with it. I'll give it somewhere between a 8-9 out of 10. Great animated movie, and I look forward to buying it on Blu-Ray when it comes out.
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