a little too schmaltzy

Rating: Null/10 (17 December 2001)

contains some spolilers...
If you can remember the days when you had to stand for `God Save The Queen', they had a half time and only one screen at your local cinema, you'll love Monsters Inc. The fact it starts off with a digital cartoon short will take you back to the heady days when Warner Bros. cartoons were the stock standard introduction to any movie.
Then you're thrown head long into the world of Monsters Inc., the company that provides electricity to the city of Monstropolis by collecting the energy generated by terrified children's screams. The opening scene is pure genius, with a trainee scream collector as terrified of his victim as the child is of him. But not all is what you think, with a nice twist thrown in right at the beginning.
The best scream catcher at the factory is Sulley (John Goodman), who we meet as he prepares for his day's work under the watchful eye (pun intended) of his trainer and mentor Mike Wazowski (Billy Crystal). At the plant he's everybody's hero, while chameleon like monster, Randall Boggs is obsessed with knocking him off his perch.
Things go awry when a small child enters the world of monsters. The monsters are as terrified of children as children are of them, thinking that children carry terrible viruses that will destroy their hidden world. But Sulley connects with the intruder, whom he names Boo, and decides it's up to him and Mike to save her. That means getting her back through the closet door that will return her to the world of humans. But it's easier said than done, with Randall and Monsters Inc. CEO, Henry J Waternoose, doing their best to banish Sulley and Mike while using Boo for their evil means.
Telling you too much more would spoil the story, but I can tell you, that since Disney are involved, it has a happy ending.
And that was the problem for me, not that I don't appreciate happy endings. I found Monsters Inc. to be too schmaltzy for my taste. The continual use of violins in the soundtrack became a little overbearing and were used as signposts to let you know that now was a good time to get emotional.
Perhaps the writers should have taken note of their own story line - that children don't scare as easily any more. A few more scares and less sugar would have made a world of difference. It also lacked the wit of Shrek - perhaps the best animated feature this year?
Now, please don't get me wrong and take it that Monsters Inc. is a bad movie; it's just that it could have been a lot better. If you want to know what it could have been like, check out Real Monsters on Nickelodeon, a cartoon that has real wit for the adults and plenty of slapstick for the littlies.
But when it comes to the perfect kids movie for over the school holidays, you couldn't go far wrong with Monsters Inc. Children will love the delightful, almost cuddly monsters that aren't really scary at all. The animation is of the highest standard, with everyone of Sulley's hairs lovingly rendered and attention to the smallest details making the movie life like.
But perhaps the best thing about Monsters Inc. is that it will help your children realise that all those scary things that go bump in the night are just doing their job.