Pixar back to making top quality animated films

Rating: 9/10 (11 June 2013)

When I first heard about this and saw trailers, I felt like it would be OK, a good laugh but not enough to really challenge other Pixar films. I can safely say that I was wrong on that score, for it manages to not only be successful prequel to the original film but also a great film in its own right. Billy Crystal and John Goodman slip effortlessly back into their roles as Mike Wazowski and Sully despite playing younger versions of themselves. The other main highlight of the voice cast is Helen Mirren's intimidating Dean Hardscrabble, who is a menacing presence and I'm sure the design of her character was modelled on Maleficent from Sleeping Beauty. Steve Buscemi's Randall also returns and although I felt that he would have a stronger part in the movie, the seeds are sown for his villainous ways in the original.
What astounded me was the creativity throughout the film, the effort that had gone into the university environment and the monsters that inhabited it (there's one monster who has university down pat in a hilarious moment that all students will understand!). The new characters that become Mike and Sully's friends, the Oozma Kappa gang, are all adorable and memorable, providing a lot of the film's humour as well as one of its most touching moments towards the end. The film is consistently hilarious but also remembers that it has to develop the initial rivalry then friendship of Mike and Sulley. The world set up in the original is also included more than I thought it would (a couple of trips to Monsters Inc. itself) and there are some brilliant cameos from two memorable characters from Inc.
Although the friend I was watching it with said that the film was low stakes, as you knew how it would end, I found that the film still managed to feel fresh despite dealing with underdog clichés and the problem of being a prequel. In a Q and A after the preview screening, the director and producer said that this was about when your dreams don't come true: a strangely anti-Disney philosophy in many ways but one that is honest and teaches kids reality about the world of work, none more so than a delightful montage of pictures explaining how Mike and Sully ended up in their respective positions in Inc. I haven't seen Cars 2 (not sure I want to) and although I enjoyed Brave, it is definitely lesser Pixar fare whereas Monsters University sees them back at the top, creating a touching and hilarious story that will hopefully see them get back to dishing out the quality every time.
I am a bit confused as to some of the critical reviews, and why this film currently has 75% on Rotten Tomatoes is beyond me. I sincerely hope this will go up, because it should be nearer 90. I watched Finding Nemo in 3D in April and although Nemo isn't my favourite Pixar, MU is easily as good as that. One critic argues that this film is too similar to The Internship...well that's the Internship's problem, as this film will have been longer in the making undoubtedly and judging from IMDb score doesn't seem to have anywhere near the same creativity and imagination behind it. This may not scale the heights of the Toy Story trilogy but it most certainly is not forgettable and the fact that I nearly shed a tear at one point (and it was NOT for the main two characters funnily enough) proves that the film gives more than just 'how did Sulley and Mike become friends'. If everyone keeps expecting Pixar to produce a Toy Story every time and if they leave a film having not experienced that and express their disappointment/outrage as a result, that's unfair. My favourite Pixars are Toy Story 1-3, Monsters Inc and Wall-E (10/10), then Incredibles, Up, Finding Nemo, Bug's Life (9/10) and I would place Monsters University just after A Bug's Life but in many ways it's probably better.
9/10 (RT had better follow suit)