Nowhere Near the Level of Pixar

Rating: 4/10 (26 May 2013)

I saw this movie with a large group of children and adults. The kids loved it, as I think most would. A lot of the adults seemed to enjoy it from the standpoint of harmless entertainment. There were some clever bits, but a lot of heavy-handed schmaltz, too. I personally didn't think it worked for me. When you have choices out there that succeed on the level of a Toy Story 3, why waste time on mediocrity like this? It wasn't the worst concept--of course kids are going to love monsters--but the execution was just enough to get by. Unlike, say, a Pixar movie where they put everything they've got into every last detail, and you can see you're getting something timeless. It'll be fine as something fun to watch once in a while when the kids make me, but not one I'll treasure.