Work hard to reach your goal

Rating: 6/10 (13 July 2013)

Like many Pixar fans, I have high expectations when I see their films. This one, I totally appreciated. Some criticisms are that it felt a little formulaic with the scare games plot device, and maybe not as sentimental as some of their more emotional stories. What I liked was that it was obvious that a tremendous amount of work went into it that can be appreciated over many viewings. I felt that the world and the characters of this movie mostly felt consistent with the original movie, although I thought Mike didn't seem so type-A in the first one. I don't think any of the new characters will become my favorites, but they were still excellent. I liked everything about the look of the movie--they are perfectionists with colors, lighting, design, and every other technical aspect. I always like reading the making-of books and seeing the concept art, along with all the other things that go into the movies, such as sources of inspiration. The ending really tied it all together for me. I felt like everything up to that point had been leading to that moment, and it was inspiring to see Mike reach his goal.