Fun Characters and Great Animation

Rating: Null/10 (7 July 2013)

Monsters University (2013)
*** (out of 4)
Fun prequel to MONSTERS, INC. has Mike (Billy Crystal) going to Monsters University where he will learn to major in the scare department. He struggles at first but soon becomes friends with Sully (JOhn Goodman) who agrees to join a team of losers who try to overcome their odds to be frightening monsters. MONSTERS UNIVERSITY is another winner from Pixar who drops some of the more "message" moments of the past few films and instead goes for straight comedy. I've heard a few people call this a fluff piece, which I think is a bit unfair because while this isn't as strong as UP or TOY STORY 3, it would be hard for any film to match those. This film here at least offers up some familiar characters and perfectly blends them with some new ones. I thought both Crystal and Goodman were extremely good returning to their vocal parts and we also got fine work from the likes of Helen Mirren and Steve Buscemi. Another major plus was the animation, which just keeps getting better and better, if you can believe that. There were several shots here that almost seemed real and especially the stuff inside the classroom where the Dean Hardscrabble was flying around and closing the shades. Another amazing looking sequence comes towards the end when Mike and Sully find themselves inside a cabin with the police surrounding them. The comedy here actually works quite well and especially once the HUNGER GAMES-like challenges begin. MONSTERS UNIVERSITY will never be considered a classic but it's still quite an impressive film that's very much worth watching.