Monsters University takes us back in time to explain how Mike Wazowski, the one-eyed green beach-ball-with-limbs monster, and Sulley, his fluffy blue-and-purple gigantic best friend, met— and how they ended up working for Monsters, Inc.
Pixar delivers a prequel to 2001's Monsters, Inc., calling to mind movies like The Hunger Games, The House Bunny, Pitch Perfect, and other familiar university themed comedies that use fraternities/sororities, nerds, jocks, the cool, and the underdogs as material.
Freshman Mike (Billy Crystal), with his wildly ambitious streak, treats the laid-back Sulley (John Goodman) as his rival in their Scare Program in Monsters University (MU). Mike is textbook smart, while Sulley carries his highly esteemed family name to validate his "natural" talent in scaring. The conflict here is that Mike is just so unscary, but! he's hellbent on proving that he can be seriously scary despite the constant ridicule he gets from his peers— and also from the ruthless Dean Hardscrabble (Helen Mirren). Will Mike overcome the challenges and prove the entire Monstropolis wrong?
Monsters University in 3D is nice and charming to look at, but this is already pretty much the present-day standard fare in animated feature films. But what's impressive here is that Pixar has truly mastered the facial expression of the monsters, which is superbly and distinctly realistic.
But we go back to the core and fundamental root of what a movie is all about: the power of storytelling. Is the movie big on originality? On humor? With a strong emotional connection? Alas, Monsters University merely recycles an old storyline, with mediocre lines and mediocre humor. If Monsters, Inc. had introduced a whole new world to the moviegoers, Monsters University just sends us to a familiar place. It's not bad at all, but it's nothing really special either.
2.5 out of 5 stars
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