By Nicholas Ware
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Many of you will come into Monsters University, the newest Pixar release, with both a sense of relief and a sense of apprehension. It's likely that you loved Monsters Inc., the movie to which University is a prequel. And you well should. It's a genuinely emotional, uproariously funny, and brilliantly paced piece of entertainment. It's the kind of movie Hollywood should make: original and affecting. Monsters University is the kind of movie that Hollywood--and sadly, Pixar--more often does make. After the twin disappointments for many people, including myself, that were Cars 2 and Brave (and the above-mentioned apprehension they caused), Monsters University does represent a significant uptick in quality. However, it also is emblematic of the rut of ordinary in which Pixar has found itself. Monsters University is a very funny, very enjoyable, unarguably entertaining but ultimately ordinary college comedy. It has all the hallmarks of the genre: begrudging rivals, preppy jerk frat, lovable loser frat, preposterous competition/wager that will solve all problems. All it's missing is a manic pixie dream girl (who, in this case, would be an actual pixie) with whom Mike Wazowski can meetcute. While there is nothing "wrong" with Monsters University, there are also no real surprises or any sense of wonder.
Monsters University does one somewhat unexpected thing: it casts Mike squarely as the hero. While Inc. was almost a buddy-cop movie in how much it shared time between Mike and Sully as protagonists, University is just a touch more about Mike. We start with his childhood field trip to the scare floor from the first film, where his obsession with being part of the scare industry started despite his physical stature being less-than-scary. Flash forward, but still back, to his first days at college, where he meets a young Sully who is trying to coast through the scaring program on his fearsome size and family credentials while Mike studies every aspect just to keep up. After some hijinks complicate both of their enrollments, Mike and Sully are forced to team up with the brothers of Oozma Kappa fraternity to win a scaring competition among the campus frats or else face a future where their dreams of working in the scare industry are impossible.
Except of course those dreams aren't impossible. Spoiler-from-Monsters Inc. alert: Mike and Sully work in the scare industry. Nearly every viewer of Monsters University knows that fact going into the movie. So while the film takes some unexpected routes, the destination is already known, and the dramatic tension is deflated by this very fact. There are no stakes in Monsters University because there's nothing to lose, as it's already been won. That doesn't mean the process isn't wonderful; it is. Helen Mirren's Dean Hardscrabble is a creepy delight, the college comedy cliches are played with (though never really undermined), and we even get a cameo from a key player in Inc. (sadly not Boo, the emotional ace in the hole that made Monsters Inc. so special). The film is very funny for both adults and children, though the Scare Games competition never has quite the scope you expect it to have, and there's no triple-lindy capper to really take the premise over the top. Instead you end up with an attempt to produce the same emotional sweetness that the Mike-Sully-Boo relationship in Inc. cultivated. It doesn't hit the same high notes of that triumvirate. What it does manage to do is produce quality laughs from quality writing, quality animation, and quality voice performances. That would be more than enough for most films, but most films don't come before an audience with the high expectations of Pixar.
As with all Pixar films, the short before the feature, The Blue Umbrella, is lovely, but it too does not quite live up to previously released mini-movies like Night & Day. It feels a lot like the Disney short Paperman that showed before Wreck-It Ralph last year, but does a wonderful job of personifying the streets of a very New York-like city in a way that is heart-melting. It's quite disappointing, actually, that the supplementary characters in the short somewhat outshine the central two umbrella if only for the cleverness of their visages; you'll see what I mean when you view the film.
Many of you will come into Monsters University, the newest Pixar release, with both a sense of relief and a sense of apprehension. It's likely that you loved Monsters Inc., the movie to which University is a prequel. And you well should. It's a genuinely emotional, uproariously funny, and brilliantly paced piece of entertainment. It's the kind of movie Hollywood should make: original and affecting. Monsters University is the kind of movie that Hollywood--and sadly, Pixar--more often does make. After the twin disappointments for many people, including myself, that were Cars 2 and Brave (and the above-mentioned apprehension they caused), Monsters University does represent a significant uptick in quality. However, it also is emblematic of the rut of ordinary in which Pixar has found itself. Monsters University is a very funny, very enjoyable, unarguably entertaining but ultimately ordinary college comedy. It has all the hallmarks of the genre: begrudging rivals, preppy jerk frat, lovable loser frat, preposterous competition/wager that will solve all problems. All it's missing is a manic pixie dream girl (who, in this case, would be an actual pixie) with whom Mike Wazowski can meetcute. While there is nothing "wrong" with Monsters University, there are also no real surprises or any sense of wonder.
Monsters University does one somewhat unexpected thing: it casts Mike squarely as the hero. While Inc. was almost a buddy-cop movie in how much it shared time between Mike and Sully as protagonists, University is just a touch more about Mike. We start with his childhood field trip to the scare floor from the first film, where his obsession with being part of the scare industry started despite his physical stature being less-than-scary. Flash forward, but still back, to his first days at college, where he meets a young Sully who is trying to coast through the scaring program on his fearsome size and family credentials while Mike studies every aspect just to keep up. After some hijinks complicate both of their enrollments, Mike and Sully are forced to team up with the brothers of Oozma Kappa fraternity to win a scaring competition among the campus frats or else face a future where their dreams of working in the scare industry are impossible.
As with all Pixar films, the short before the feature, The Blue Umbrella, is lovely, but it too does not quite live up to previously released mini-movies like Night & Day. It feels a lot like the Disney short Paperman that showed before Wreck-It Ralph last year, but does a wonderful job of personifying the streets of a very New York-like city in a way that is heart-melting. It's quite disappointing, actually, that the supplementary characters in the short somewhat outshine the central two umbrella if only for the cleverness of their visages; you'll see what I mean when you view the film.
Monsters University is certainly a film I recommend, especially for families. It's so much better than most family entertainment and it doesn't insult the intelligence of the audience. It's fun to see Mike and Sully's relationship be adversarial after witnessing what a cohesive team they have become in the previous film. But, sadly, fun is all Monsters University has to offer. For the cinephile who yearns for something more, an emotional resonance or a lasting impression, Monsters University will quickly fade into a pleasant but inconsequential memory. However, don't let that scare you away from a good time.
Monsters University opens today at all major multiplexes in the Central Florida area. Available in both 2D and 3D. Rated G. Run time 1 hour 40 minutes.
