Impression

Rating: 9/10 (25 June 2013)

"Realistic" is the last word that comes to mind when monsters are involved. Nevertheless, Monsters University does a superb job of addressing real-life conflicts by projecting them into a fantasy world. This form of information distribution is effective because at the same time that the audience is being entertained by escaping into imagination, they are also relating to the characters that face similar problems. In Monsters University, we have Mike, the underdog, who, despite his determination, can never seem to achieve his dreams. He is constantly being rejected from society, regardless of his intense efforts and countless hours of hard work. Many people share Mike's frustration with not fitting in and never being good enough, or in this case, "scary" enough. On the other hand, we have Sully, who appears to have everything in the palm of his furry paw. Sully is loved by all and can be terrifying without breaking a single sweat. However, he is under constant pressure of living up to his family name and puts up a tough facade due to his true feelings of confusion and helplessness. Even those who lead "perfect" lives face their own obstacles. Once Mike and Sully survived the human world and broke the all-time scream record, I expected the dean to let them back into the school. They had finally proved to her that they were the smartest, bravest, and scariest monsters, but they were still expelled. All of their friends got accepted, but they were still expelled. The dean told them they impressed her and wished them luck, but they were still expelled. How could acting with good intentions lead to failing miserably? I kept on thinking, if I were the director, I would most definitely put them back in school. After all, this is a Disney movie. Where is the happy ending? It was stated earlier that Monsters University is a realistic movie. It is realistic in the sense that bad things happen to good people. You cannot always win. The director chose to have the characters expelled, which caused them to figure out new solutions and move on. There is no easy path in life but if you make the most of what you have and strive for excellence, success is just around the corner.