Monsters University Review

Monster University Review

Pixar over the last few years have certainly had a contrast in the quality of their summer blockbuster sequels. 2010's Toy Story 3 was a truely fantastic experience while 2011's Car's 2 was average at best. Monsters University marks the fourth time a Pixar franchise has been reused and fortunatly follows suit of the Toy Story sequels than Cars. 

Monsters Inc was a truely brilliant film, brilliant characters, plenty of humor for both kids and adults and a great moral of misjudging apperences generated by the masses. I was the perfect age for Monster Inc. Heck I still think I have my action figures somewhere up the loft. 

Monsters University is the first prequel Pixar has done and as such are plenty of references to the previous instalment, which certainly kicked off my nostalgia sense. Monsters Inc was more based around Sully's struggle to accept difference, this film is almost certainly Mike's film. 

The story is centralised around Mikes hope to become a top scarer by attending the scaring course at Monster University. The plot overall is good although I felt with this film that the target was more towards the younger generation this can certainly be seen by some of the new characters bought in. On the whole the new main characters are solid inclusion, I like the Jocks and the different teams resembling stereotypes however I think the film could have done without Squishey. Adipo from Doctor Who anyone? Also the different teams are barely in the movie. Aside from the commentators I can't even recall the names of any of the supporting cast; whereas in other Pixar films such as ToyStory, Bug's Life and to a lesser extent Cars the supporting cast are fantastic and vibrant. 

In terms of enjoyment, I throughly enjoyed watching Monsters University! By expanding the back story without ruining the legacy Pixar have created in the original! There are constant references to the original film through the characters in the university resembling the monsters on the scare floor in the first! The jokes however sometimes fall slightly towards child friendly gags than dry humor Pixar is known for. Be ready for the car gag however that one is a stunner. 

Billy Crystal and John Goodman return to their roles flawlessly, it almost seems that Goodman is more comfortable in Sully's shoes as a freshman than as a role model in the first film! Helen Mirrin is the true star of the show as Dean Hardscramble the slightly terrifying former top scarer her character design is absolutly flawless! Steve Buscimi however feels a bit wasted as Randel, I really enjoyed the opening sections with Randel as Mikes room mate and I would have been interested to have seen a more Randel based story line as he becomes a side character very quickly and his ending feels a little bit of a rushed job. 

From what I've been saying Monsters University sounds a fantastic movie and thats true to an extent the movie is clearly based towards young children whereas the beauty of the other classic Pixar films is how relatable they are to both Adults and Children.

Monsters University is a great prequel it adds to the story in Monsters Inc without ruining its legacy. I wish it was more adult in its humor though. It could have done much much more with the university setting but its still a great film for the whole family.

Breakdown:

Pros: 

Beautifully Animated

Great Voice Work

Fun new main Characters

Lots of nods to the previous film

Cons:

Throwaway characters a plenty

Childish comedy