One of PIXAR's best

Rating: 8/10 (11 November 2013)

Monsters University is where creatures go when they want to be instructed on the fine art of scaring the bejesus out of unsuspecting tykes lying all snug in their beds at night. Yet, while many aspire to such a career, few are called. And no one wants to learn to be a first-class scarer more than little Mike Wazowski (Billy Crystal), a short, green, one-eyed, retainer-wearing, utterly nondescript blob-with-limbs who frankly couldn't scare a bed sheet on Halloween. And it doesn't help that his greatest competition in the school's annual scare-off is a hulking furry brute by the name of Sulley (John Goodman) who comes from a long line of scarers. But in the great opposites-attract tradition, Mike and Sulley soon learn that they can achieve more by working together than working apart. This is particularly the case after they join a fraternity made up of other wanna-be scarers who are determined to win the contest against a half-a-dozen other teams of more reliably frightening monsters.
"Monsters University" may not be as emotionally resonant or cerebral as some previous PIXAR productions, but this prequel to the 2001 mega-hit "Monsters, Inc.," is one of the most purely enjoyable films ever to come out of that studio - and that is saying a great deal indeed. It has terrific fun parodying the rituals of college life - fraternities, cliques, the high-pressured stress of exams - yet still manages to relate to the younger set's concerns with the need to be accepted by the "in" crowd while at the same time finding the inner strength to remain an individual and to stand up for oneself and all the other misfits in society (think of this as a monster-sized riff on "Rudolph the Red-nosed Reindeer").
As this is a PIXAR release, it's practically superfluous to praise the wit and ingenuity of the script (by Daniel Gerson, Robert L. Baird and director Dan Scanlon), the beauty of the animation with its gorgeous collegiate-Gothic backgrounds, and the spot-on voice-over work that have long been the hallmarks of that studio's output. The all-star cast includes, in addition to Crystal and Goodman, Steve Buscemi, Sean Hayes, Helen Mirren, Aubrey Plaza, John Kraskinski, Bonnie Hunt, Bill Hader, and a whole lot more.
So sit back, relax and enjoy the delicious treat that is "Monsters University." But don't forget to pull the covers up at night.