Monsters University

MONSTERS UNIVERSITY

Director : Dan Scanlon

Year : 2013

Genre : Animation

Rating : **

'Monsters University' is a prequel to the hugely successful 2001 Academy Award winning animation 'Monsters, Inc.', which for me is the best film that PIXAR animation studios has ever produced. It is a hilarious, moving, colourful and hugely entertaining movie that enthralled me when I first saw it when it opened in the summer of 2001 and remains to this day one of my all time favourite animations. Now we have the obligatory prequel and unfortunately, 'Monsters University' fails to add anything to it's predecessor; in both story and character development. Yes, it is nice to see Mike Wazowski, James P. Sullivan and Randall Boggs back on the big screen and the design for the other monsters is ridiculously imaginative, but it would have been nice to at least give them a story I could care about and personalities I could identify with. Lacking the heart, humour or originality of it's counterpart, 'Monsters University' is just another film from a once great studio that has sadly lost it's place as the doyen of computer animation.

In 'Monsters, Inc.', Mike Wasowski and James P. Sullivan were inseparable friends, working together to generate scream power for the city of Monstropolis. But that wasn't always the case and 'Monsters University' shows us that they began as bitter rivals. Tracing back to their college years, we see them endeavouring to win the scare games; a competition that will allow them entry into the coveted scaring programme. To succeed, they must put aside their differences and  work together to battle the obstacles and challenges that stand between them and their dreams.

For the best part of 3 decades, PIXAR animation studios has been at the forefront of computer generated childrens entertainment and many of their early movies are recognised as some of the best ever made. For many people of my age, PIXAR provided some the earliest cinematic experiences we we ever had and each movie left an indelible mark on our psyches. Nostalgia can be a really wonderful thing and my memories of watching 'Toy Story', 'A Bug's Life' and 'The Incredibles' are some of my favourites. Combining amazing visuals with fantastic characterisations and funny and unique narratives, PIXAR continued to push the boundaries of animation and would constantly sweep the Academy Awards. But when The Walt Disney Company bought PIXAR in 2006, the quality of the studios work varied immensely; from the sublime ('Up') to the less than mediocre ('Cars') and for the past 3 years, their films have continued to drop in both imagination and story. After the commercial failures of 'Brave' and 'Cars 2', PIXAR has gone back to one of it's most beloved properties to try and hoist itself out of the mud. Unfortunately, this has backfired hugely and 'Monsters University' is a crippling disappointment.

Reducing the narrative to a basic and highly conventional underdog story, 'Monsters University' lacks any of the imagination or depth of 'Monsters, Inc'. The characters are barely developed and the new monsters that are seen in the film are completely forgettable.  There are a few funny moments in the movie but for the most part, 'Monsters University' has none of the humour or good nature of it's original. Like many films these days, the best moments of the entire picture are shown in the trailer and give away far too much of the plot. But then again, the plot for 'Monsters University' can be traced within 10 minutes of it's start due to it's conventional narrative structure and underdog story, leaving no room for surprise or even anticipation. 'Monsters, Inc.' is a completely unique film. 'Monsters University' is about as generic as they come.

All the main voice actors from 'Monsters, Inc.' return and all lend their vocal talents well to their characters. Billy Crystal is as entertaining as always as Mike and John Goodman is clearly having fun voicing the dour and egostistical Sulley. Helen Mirren is also very good as the oppressive and domineering Hardscrabble, whose threatening voice lends itself well to the creepy and rather scary character design. Unfortunately, a large majority of the monsters have no interesting vocal work whatsoever and do not stand out in any way at all. Of course being a college film, we are given all the major archetypal groups; the jocks, the nerds, the cheerleader types, the emos etc. But none of them are expanded beyond their most basic conventional parts and for me, this is a huge disappointment. PIXAR used to be the masters of giving us varied characterisations and interesting storylines, but now the tide has turned and their work is just using the same template as every other animated film released. If 'Monsters University' had been released in 2001 instead of 'Monsters, Inc.', there would not be any sort of nostalgia or love for any of these characters at all.

Yes, the character design is very imaginative and the movie is bright and colourful so your children should be entertained enough but for me, 'Monsters University' is way below par for a PIXAR film. Generic, boring and as conventional as they come, 'Monsters University' is destined to become only a side movie to one of the greatest animated motion pictures ever made. Sure it will make a ton of money and merchandise will fly off the shelves like hotcakes. But in 10 years time, will people have the same reverence for 'Monsters University' as they do for 'Monsters, Inc.', 'Finding Nemo' or 'Toy Story'? I don't think so. For PIXAR, the ship has sadly sailed and it will take a pretty amazing comeback for them to hoist themselves back onto the stepladder of greatness.