Effectively Monsters, Inc. meets Animal House

Rating: 7/10 (27 January 2016)

Monsters University saw Pixar return to familiar territory after the disappointing Cars 2 and Brave, becoming the first prequel to come from the studio. The idea of showing how Mike and Sulley first meet was one that held a lot of potential, and the success of the film depends on what you are expecting. The film isn't a fast-paced adventure with a lot at stake like the first film, but more of an amusing origin story that's just good fun. It focuses on Mike going to Monsters University with the intention of being the best scarer ever and he clashes with the overconfident Sulley as a result. When they are kicked off the course they are forced to enter the Scaring Games to get their places back and guide a team of misfits to success along the way.
The story is as simple as its sounds, it's just Mike and Sulley trying to win the competition and gradually realising that they're both after the same thing. It is nice that they weren't originally friends and had to work together to fully understand each other. The real strength of the story lies with its moral. The idea that someone's abilities can always surprise you is on that the film uses very effectively, seeing as Mike is constantly told that he is scary enough and no amount of hard work will change that. Of course by the climax he proves that by mixing his knowledge with Sulley's look anything can be achieved. Away from that is does follow the formula of a typical university movie and the hijinks of the fraternities, but it does it well and offers a lot of enjoyment. The only issue people may have with the story is that there feels like there is less at stake. There is conflict, especially in the climax, but there is no big adventure you come to expect from Pixar.
As always the characters are crucial to this story and they are great. Mike is portrayed as bookish and relying on his quick wit, but he is a lot of fun. You get a real sense of how much he wants to be successful and it's difficult not to like him simply because of the passion he shows. Sulley is much more self-assured and lackadaisical towards his career than he would go on to be, though he does go through an arch as he becomes more attentive and reliable as the film progresses. The geeky frat group they join all have distinct personalities. Squishy is a pleasant innocent, Don is an enjoyable fatherly figure and Art provides some good laughs because of how odd he is. The frightening Dean (voiced well by Helen Mirren) makes a good adversary to the group and has a great design, even if she is underdeveloped. The rival frat groups suffer from the same problem.
The animation is brilliant and extremely detailed. It's very colourful and bright, giving a lot of life to the university setting and allowing the characters to leap off the screen. The character designs are excellent and creative, no two monsters look the same and it's clear that a lot of thought went into their looks. The score by Randy Newman is very good. It has the light feel of the original film yet involves less jazzy elements and more infectious melodies, the songs used throughout the film also fit well. The scare games were inventive and provided a great deal of excitement that the film needed, with the final game allowing a lot of tension. The jokes themselves are somewhat hit and miss. In fairness to the film there is a wide variety of comedy and so many comedic styles are tried that it was bound to be the case, though when the jokes are good they are usually very funny thanks to some great visuals and wordplay.
So while it isn't up there with Pixar's greats, Monsters University is an extremely enjoyable and always entertaining effort. It does lack the big feel of other Pixar films and is a little by the book in some areas, but the film succeeds at what it attempts to do and that is tell a fun buddy college film. The two main characters are very likable and that remains the case throughout, they carry the film with relative ease. The other characters are entertaining, the animation is some of the studios most colourful and the message is a very genuine one that's handled well. Even for the often patchy comedy, when the comedic moments work they work very well. It's a film that is easy to appreciate and get a lot of enjoyment out of.