Jon Monsarrat review: good but not "Toy Story"

Rating: 7/10 (1 April 2002)

"Monsters, Inc." is a solid animated comedy that will be great for kids, and acceptable for adults. Mostly, I think that Billy Crystal needs to find a more funny and less annoying schtick. Ever since Abbott and Costello there have been teams with a big straight-man problem fixer and a short, annoying but lovable troublemaker who talks too much. It doesn't work nearly as well here as in "Ice Age", although it comes nowhere as low as Jar Jar Binks territory ("Star Wars: The Phantom Menace").
Despite all that, and the sort of generic plotting you expect in kids films nowadays (if you're over 30, aren't Disney flicks all starting to look alike to you?), I enjoyed it and can recommend it also to adults.
Who should see this film:
-- Kids (and their parents will have fun, too)
-- Comedy lovers who've already seen "Toy Story" or "Antz",
and don't mind seeing a kids film from time to time.
I'll give "Monsters, Inc." a 7 out of 10.