So sweet it'll give you cavities but full of heart

Rating: 7/10 (4 July 2013)

I THINK I saw Monsters Inc. I know that sounds absurd but I honestly can't remember it. I certainly know of it and could name the characters because it was a huge hit. Friends of mine chose this one and I was looking forward to seeing it though it wouldn't have been my first choice. Monsters University is adorable simply put. It is the perfect movie for youngsters and it is one of the few animated projects I have seen in a long time that doesn't try to gear itself towards adults and children. This one is really for the kids. That's completely, 100% okay and I think that's awesome. It is squeaky, undeniably clean. It doesn't even try to use hidden innuendo jokes to appease the adult audiences. It is fun and boisterous and has so many great characters and monsters for the kids to just fall in love with. The animated ranges from good to great. The whole film is well done animated wise but the scenes when Mike and Sully slip through to a human summer camp is some really incredible special effects so bravo for that. For me, as an adult, it didn't blow me away but then its not meant to. Pixar has done some truly incredible movies, some of my favourites...Toy Story (of course), Wall-E and UP to name three of the best animated films I have ever seen. Monsters University doesn't sit on the same playing field as them in my books but it was fun.
When Billy Crystal and John Goodman first brought Mike and Sully to life they created icons. That was an unbelievable 12 years ago and Monsters University only serves to remind us just how great those two characters are and the two of them suit their characters so well and just completely bring them to life. They have such recognizable voices and yet they are as recognizable as Crystal and Goodman as they are as Mike and Sully. The rest of the cast is just terrific too. Steve Buscemi returns as Randall, Helen Mirren is just unbelievably perfect as Dean Hardscrabble, Peter Sohn was awesome as Squishy (one of my favourite of the new characters), Sean Hayes and Dave Foley were great as the two headed Terry and Terri, Joel Murray, Charlie Day and to save one of the best for last Nathan Fillion was outstanding as head jock Johnny Worthington. The cast just worked so well together, whether or not they actually read lines together I don't know but everyone was so great and many of them have such recognizable voices but it never took away from the characters they were creating.
The film is quite long comparatively to some animated films. I wonder since the film is so specifically geared towards children if it needed to be that long but certainly there is plenty going on at all times. My favourite scene is round one of the scare games with the spiked balls that gives the monsters swollen body parts...it was hilarious and fun. Dan Scanlon is a co-writer and director on the film and he is fairly new to the Pixar company and yet you would never know it because he certainly brings everything to the table you would expect from a classic Disney style film and Pixar. I was actually a little surprised at the overall message behind Monsters University. Spoilers are indeed ahead so stop reading if you don't want the ending ruined. Mike and Sully are ultimately expelled from Monsters University. Because of this they decide instead to start at the bottom and work their way up to the position of scarers within Monsters Inc. I thought that was a surprising thing to show to children. I do agree with that message that school doesn't mean everything and there are alternate ways to achieve your dream but I was surprised is all I mean by that. Monsters University will have you chuckling without really laughing out loud, it'll have you say "awww" a few times but I don't think most parents and adults will find it nearly as entertaining as children will. It is fun though and I don't remember the original but it seems like to me that they came back and perfectly captured the spirit of Monsters Inc. twelve years later so bravo to them for that. 7/10