Back To The Past

Rating: 8/10 (2 July 2013)

Unlike most Pixar films, Monsters Inc. is never really famous by its idea. Everyone mostly recalls the film by the love of the characters. They are the biggest deal of the story, and for that this prequel, Monsters University, keeps them the same perfectly. Although it didn't go with the same heights of its predecessor, the film gets it right for laying low from today's excessive gimmickry and simply tells the story by getting to know more of the characters and what's going on. The basic charm and heart remains, thus Monsters University is one of those prequels that will be appreciated by its fans.
This might be the second Disney animated film that depicts college life. How the film portrays it is quite sugarcoated, since this is definitely a family movie. There are still some amusing mockeries to be felt in the exteriors. Though, the whole movie is just a typical fight between a band of misfits versus a too competent group. The thing is the titular university is barely fascinating, compared to the incorporated. But the best feat lies on the characters. Since they are always the heart of the pictures, they serve better effect to this story. Mike and Sully's friendship is the idea here, and it could have been a clichéd growth of friendship, but the film surprisingly gives it an unpredictable fate which leads to a better message in the end.
John Goodman and Billy Crystal once again brought Mike and Sulley to life and the charm they gave to them stays intact, while the new cast also made their characters quite memorable. The direction is remarkably basic to this era of animation. As you would notice, our most recent ones are too busy on trying to make bigger animation tricks and endless swift action, Monsters University just stays simple. Not saying creating groundbreaking visuals is bad, but we just hardly see any absorbing storytelling nowadays. We still get to see something wonderful here, like how everything looks colorfully eye candy without adding any exaggerated whimsiness. Randy Newman returns at the score which brings some nostalgia from the original.
Based on the themes, Monsters University is pretty much like An Extremely Goofy Movie. It's never really into portraying the means of college life, but it instead aims to developing the central relationship and heart. The overall film is thankfully more than a joke filled, nonstop set pieced, mainstream blockbuster gimmickry. It has the elements which made the first film so good. We can live without the satires or pros and cons about college, but the university could have been as intriguing as the world we saw twelve years ago, but again, it's all about characters, because the studio truly understands that they are one of the best developed characters of this genre. Monsters University is not yet the superior mode of Pixar, but it's not their mediocre mode either. All in all, it's undeniably good.