While slightly unnecessary, it is by no means awful...

Rating: 9/10 (25 October 2013)

It would not take me long to write a sizeable list of awful, unnecessary sequels to really good movies. If you'd asked me 2 years ago, I'd have assumed that "Monsters University" would be on that list eventually. I can today declare that while it may be slightly unnecessary, it is by no means awful. It's a hilarious film, which is very nostalgic for those of us who have grown up with the original.
The plot itself is slightly thin and unremarkable, with Mike and Sulley hating each other at university because Mike works hard but is a loser, and Sulley is popular and lazy. They eventually are put in a situation which makes them have to work together and eventually become great friends. It's simple, but also not extremely important. The film is more focused on the relationships between all of the characters, and creating great scenarios where the humour and characters really shine. The different trials of "Scare Games" provide a lot of laughs, as do the strange quirks of Oozma Kappa (Squishy Squibbles' mother is always funny). The horror film parody which we see towards the end is both hilarious, extremely clever, and a great moment in the Mike/Sulley relationship.
The thing that makes the film so special is that it reminds us of the original while also not letting this get in the way of new things. Many of the original cast reprise their roles, but there are also great newcomers, like Helen Mirren and most of the Oozma Kappa team. We discover the reasons for many things in the original, like why Randall hates Mike and Sulley so much. There are drop in appearances from some of the best characters in the first film, like Roz or the Abominable Snowman. The best reference by far is this poster above Randall's bed – as always with Pixar, its the subtleties that really make the films special. The animation itself looks as good as ever, and really shows how far Pixar have come since the original in terms of technology. Some of the crowd scenes are stunning, due to the range of colours and number of unique monsters.
There is no doubt that I would "Monsters University" to somebody of any age. It's full of warmth and fun, like most of Pixar's fantastic back catalogue. It also puts them at 3-1 in terms of sequels, giving me high hope for "Finding Dory" in a couple of years.