A Solid B+

Rating: 8/10 (24 July 2013)

It's Pixar time again.
The animated wonder house that released some of my favourite films (The Incredibles, Up) has unleashed a prequel to the seminal Monsters Inc. Certainly, the effect of Pixar on my consciousness is such that I pretty much grade any animated film now as being 'the best non- Pixar animated film I've seen'.
It doesn't rank up there alongside the Pixar greats, where I would place the film's predecessor Monsters. Inc, but it was great fun.
I'm actually going to start out with what I felt was the reason that this film doesn't quite live up to Monsters. Inc. I feel once I get these few points out of the way, I can then concentrate on the many things that the film does right.
Firstly. The originality of the first film has gone. The film realises it cannot just re-hash the same material so Monsters University is a pretty normal college comedy film, it just so happens that it contains monsters. The fraternity competition is there, the harsh dean, the supportive lecturer, all characters well known in the genre. But they're monsters. Despite this however, the film manages to circumvent this through sheer enjoyment and imagination with the monsters themselves and the world they inhabit.
Secondly. No Boo! One of the main reasons that Monsters Inc. worked so well was that apart from the great characters of Mike and Sully, Boo provided so much heart, laughs and sad moments that her absence just can't fill. Monsters University never quite manages to reach the same emotional heights that Monsters Inc. had and I believe that the lack of a character like Boo is the sole reason behind this.
So what does the film get right?
Well, Billy Crystal (Mike) and John Goodman (Sully) are still perfect in their vocal roles. Somehow sounding younger in this film than in Monsters Inc., they both still infuse the two characters with huge amounts of charm, humour and emotion. The animators must also get their credit here too by giving both characters expressive faces, especially Mike. His smile is so sweet, earnest and optimistic, it's a joy to watch.
The other characters are also really well done, all of the members of Oozma Kappa are sweet and have some really funny moments. Special mention must go to Charlie Day, who provided the vocal talent for the character Art.
The film is also so bright and colourful. Pixar love their bright, vivid colours and with realism out of the way, the animators saturate the screen with bright greens, red, purples, blues. It's a lovely film to watch. The story itself really surprised me as well. It's not a complex plot by any means but at several points, I was wondering how the film was going to resolve to where Monsters Inc. started.
So it's not as good as Monsters Inc. for sure. But it is still a bright, colourful, funny and really enjoyable film. And it's still as good as most non-Pixar animated film's I've seen.