Very good, but not terribly original

Rating: 8/10 (19 July 2013)

Mike Wazowski has wanted to be a scarer ever since he was at elementary school. He gets to attend Monster University which he hopes will help him realise his dreams.
12 years ago we met Mike and Sully working for Monsters Inc. Here we see their first meeting at Monsters University in a story which is an odd but generally effective mixture. It is a fairly routine college underdogs movie though, for its target audience of younger viewers, it may well be the first time they have met this storyline. Conversely, a lot of the college related gags and plot elements are unlikely to have much meaning for them (and, to be frank, the fraternity stuff is, as always, a complete mystery to non-American viewers).
Having said that, the story works well, the visuals are first rate (and the 3D, while unessential, is effective), the film is bright and colourful, the voice talent is spectacular, Crystal and Goodman retain the excellent chemistry which so enhanced the original movie (Goodman's Sullie is surprisingly unsympathetic for much of the movie, albeit this is a plot point), and the film does not end how I expected it to.
So I think it must be acknowledged that the film is not terribly original - very un-Pixar-like - but it will have wide appeal to both young and older audience. It entertains, and what more can you ask of a film?