No satire, and less imagination than one expects from Pixar

Rating: 5/10 (13 October 2013)

Pixar's computer-powered animations have earned justified plaudits over the years for their gorgeous aesthetics, their imaginative humour, and a perspective on life that is heartwarming in places but also perceptive, and, on occasion, even bleak – for example, the original 'Toy Story' struck me, more than anything else, as a remarkably frank film about mortality. But 'Monsters University' is a one of the more ordinary efforts in their mostly remarkable canon. A sequel of one of the less adult-oriented of their original films, it lacks the freshness of a typical Pixar effort, and the moral of the story is pure Disney. And in this story of university life, a gentle play with the idea of fraternities is preferred to any true satire (you won't hear anyone suggest that universities exist to cement the advantages of rich kids or to provide cushy jobs for their teachers, although the setting is the sort of college that only exists because some people are willing and able to pay big money for it). This is probably the harshest review this children's film will get; but 'WALL-E', perhaps the most ambitious Pixar movie, was an incredibly poignant film about the damage that man is doing to the planet – and that didn't mean that it forewent comedy, action scenes or even the hint of a happy ending either. 'Monsters University' will doubtless be enjoyed by its intended audience; but unusually for Pixar, that's as far as it goes.