Pass the Popcorn review

Rating: 7/10 (9 October 2013)

It's been 12 years since Monsters, Inc. came out. It was a huge success and a great cartoon, so it's actually really strange Pixar hadn't decided to make a sequel/prequel to it earlier. Still, this year we got Monsters University. I must admit that when I saw the title I thought this was going to be an awful prequel that will simply ruin the franchise. But since it was – and still is – the second most financially successful animated movie this year, I decided to give it a try – and I was pleasantly surprised.
Monsters University introduces us to a very young Mike Wazowski (voiced by Billy Crystal) who, one day on a school trip visits Monsters Inc., the scaring company. Since everybody looks down on him and doesn't consider him scary, he decides to prove everyone wrong and become a scarer. Years later, we meet an older Mike, who has just got registered at Monsters University and is starting his lessons. What he lacks in talent, he makes up for in hard work. An arrogant and conceited James P. Sullivan soon becomes his rival.
First of all, I liked that the movie shows that, in order to be successful, you have to work hard. But it also demonstrates that if something isn't for you, no matter how much you want it, it's much better to let it go. Mike isn't a scarer in Monsters, Inc. because he isn't scary, and he learns to live with it at the end of this prequel – even though it means to give up all of his childhood dreams. But in the end he's happy and satisfied with his life and his job. So, on one hand the movie is a bit too idealistic for grown-ups (because sometimes, no matter how much you work, you'll get nowhere), but it compensates by having this realistic ending.
The story itself isn't original – college life, enemies becoming friends and overcoming obstacles by helping each other – but some twists are truly unexpected. The humour is not as childish as one may think, and even the silliest scenes, like someone falling over, provide good laughs. There are a lot of other, supporting characters, and almost everyone is funny, interesting and developed enough not to be just dead weight. In conclusion, this is a very good animated movie, but it's not perfect. It lacks 'that little something', which might have been achieved by inventing a more original story. But it's not a movie I'd suggest you avoid, and if there's ever a sequel to Monsters, Inc. I suggest right now you watch that one too.
Rating: 7/10 Read more at http://passpopcorn.wordpress.com/