Monsters University

Rating: 5/10 (3 July 2020)

Monsters University was directed & written by Dan Scanlon, produced by Kori Rae, Andrew Stanton, & John Lasseter who had their hands all over most of the Pixar classics! Pixar has had a little run with okay movies between 2011 & 2013, like Brave & Cars 2, but Mosters University was superior to both. After waiting eleven and a half years for the sequel, we finally got it, but as a surprising prequel. During the first two acts, it was fine, due to the okay pace & premise, but come the last act, and more or less the extended half hour, it was the best part of the movie! If the director and writers kept that pace the whole movie, and maybe condensed it a little bit, this movie would've been a great prequel.
The characters had a great look, with charming voice overs, bringing back Billy Crystal as Mike, John Goodman as Sulley & Steve Buscemi as Randall Boggs. Dan Scanlon, Daniel Gerson & Robert L. Baird added a creative touch, capturing the college student traits and actions, in a PG form. Sadly, they're developments and cliché roles killed it.
The screenplay by Dan Scanlot, Daniel Gerson & Robert L. Baird had some decent emotional scenes, but cluttered with hit or miss jokes, with unnecessary one liners from the original, just to say that they brought something back.
Needless to say, the cinematography and animations were brilliant! Jean-Claude Kalache, and Matt Aspbury, had great detail with every strain of hair, blade of grass, and more!
Overall, this wasn't one of those prequels that was unbearable to watch, but I wouldn't go as far as watching again for fun. I'd still love to see a sequel off of the original, 2001 Monsters Inc.