Good. . . but Not Great!

Rating: 6/10 (4 November 2001)

Pixar can do no wrong, in my opinion. In MONSTERS, INC., they did no wrong; they just didn't do enough that was right! I liked the movie, but I didn't love it. There was just something missing and I'm not sure what it was. Maybe it was the fact that there were no really well-developed supporting characters. It was ALL Mike and ALL Sully. And that wasn't enough! Randall was a good villain; he just wasn't villanous enough! Maybe the monsters weren't scarey enough. . . or cuddly enough. They seemed to be mostly potatoes, slugs or sausages with an unusual number of eyes. And the boss monster was a rip-off from one of the mutant toys in TOY STORY. Maybe there weren't enough in-jokes to keep adults entertained. Oh, sure, I liked the STALK/DON'T STALK crossing light. And I saw the TOY STORY doll but I'm not sure whether it was Woody or the cowgirl. And I caught the Oscar Meyer jingle line. But I wanted more. Maybe I was waiting for a song and dance number. Randy Newman wrote the music. Why can't we have more than a sing-along over the credits? And where were the Pixar out-takes at the end? I'm not sure the kids in the audience liked the movie so much either. The kid sitting next to me knew who all the monsters were; she shouted their names out to her dad who was sitting down the row. But I don't recall her laughing. Or anything. What was there was clever and even tugged at a heartstring. It's what wasn't there that's bothersome.