Monsters University Review

I can’t imagine there were too many people clamouring for a sequel, or indeed a prequel, to Pixar’s joyously goofy 2001 hit, Monsters Inc. Mike and Sulley’s chance meeting with Boo was a genuinely heartfelt triumph of friendship and mischief played out against a backdrop of curiously fiendish blue collar grind. Pixar’s original foray into Monstropolis was pretty difficult to fault, shouldering its way up to the top table of digitally animated classics. Treacherous then to dilute that memory with a potentially ropey follow-up; strive for a Toy Story 2 or 3 and you risk walking away with a Cars part deux.

Fingers crossed then for this little piece of back story explaining just how the big blue fluffy one and the little green cyclops found their way onto the factory floor.

It’s a pre-laughter time for the resident creepies, before the chance discovery that kiddies’ squeals of delight can be used to power their toasters and hair dryers. Therefore the monsters continue to beaver away at the risky business of harvesting the noises of utter terror belching forth from the bedrooms of unfortunate children.

Inspired by a school field trip, a young Mike Wazowski (Billy Crystal) makes it his life’s ambition to become a top scarer, and so enrols into the prestigious Monsters University to begin his studies. Determined and conscientious, he meets James Sullivan (John Goodman), a naturally gifted scarer with a laissez-faire approach to academia. The pair are classmates on the Scare Programme, an undergraduate degree in frightening the pants off 8 year olds; they don’t get on and before long begin a personal battle of one upmanship with the intention of humiliating the other. Their respective dreams of graduating to become professional, perhaps even the greatest scarers ever, take a nosedive however, when a massive, destructive cock-up sees them both unceremoniously booted off the course. Given the circumstances the duo have no choice but to work together to earn another crack at fulfilling their dreams.

The weird mixture of ghoulishness and cuddliness that struck such a chord first time round is replicated with irable panache by director and co-writer Dan Scanlon. A campus crawling monsters of all shapes and sizes gives the film makers more than a decent chance to populate the screen with amusingly bizarre creations. It’s this kaleidoscopic mish-mash of titter-provoking, gurning, chattering monstrosities that provoke the most joy. The perpetually excited, bird-faced jock; the giant, football-playing slug; the skittish, purplish thing that’s all legs and no arms, with a criminal record and huge lips; they’re all diverting enough.

Mike and Sulley’s initial animosity towards each other creates an interesting dynamic too. Although we know their eventual friendship is never in doubt, it’s intriguing to see their relationship evolve over the course of the term as they slowly but surely develop a mutual friendship.

On then downside, Monsters University feels like a film which is never quite prepared to exploit its status as a bina fide monster movie. The trifling, recognisably human issues that contrasted so well with Monstropolis’ innate outlandishness first time round, seem a tad too familiar here. So Mike and Sulley must deal with all the pitfalls any human student must: impressing the popular kids; fretting over social norms, parties, soirées and the like; being dismissive, then eventually accepting of the nerds’ foibles. Strange that even with the inclusion of a couple of wittily original set-pieces, the whole thing feels like a university film, rather than a monsters university film.

A college drop-out it definitely ain’t, but it must try harder to replicate the good work done by its predecessor.

★★★☆☆

Chris Banks

Rating: U
Release Date: 12th July 2013 (UK)
Stars: Billy Crystal, John Goodman,Helen Mirren, Steve Buscemi, Alfred Molina
Director: Dan Scanlon