Confession to make – I didn’t like Monsters Inc. Decent idea on paper, stretched to it’s limits, sugarcoated in Pixar awesomeness may have managed to get families in but not me. I can see what they were going for and respect it but not my cup of tea. So imagine my disgust when they not only announced a follow on (or should that be follow to) about the adventures of Mike and Sully when Pixar’s recent slate is already flooded with sequels. Come on guys – we’ve already had Toy Story 3 and Cars 2 the last couple years alone with varying levels of success. Trapped in the confines of a prequel, it doesn’t look great for Monster University either.
Let’s talk about that format for a moment. Prequels are not a great idea for any film due to the restrictions placed upon the concept. You already know what’s going to happen so there’s no dramatic tension. If there’s any fear of death or mortal peril for the main characters, well we already know they’re going to be okay. So it’s up to the interactions between previously established characters to sell the film. In this case, it’s how Mike and Sully get together… it’s not that interesting to be honest. Admittedly, the idea of prequels have potential. Take the “first” trilogy of Star Wars for example. It’s the journey of how Darth Vader becomes Darth Vader essentially, thus intriguing. I suppose it’s me beating on Monsters University unfairly but when you sit down and watch it, it doesn’t even make an effort to be terribly engaging either.
Inspired as young monster by a school trip to Monsters Inc. headquarters, Mike (Billy Crystal, Analyse That) decides to study himself so he become the best scarer ever and is accepted for Scare School at the illustrious Monsters University. The trouble is, the diminutive Mike just isn’t scary looking enough. This coupled with a rivalry with the ‘taking it easy’ son of the scarer family Sully (John Goodman, The Hangover 3) gets both kicked out of Scare School. The two decide to team up with the most unpopular and least scary house on campus to earn their spot back in Scare School and to prove themselves to the fearsome monsters.
There’s absolutely nothing of note to say about either Goodman or Crystal’s performances. Even when we have a moment of conflict for the now friends later on in the film, it doesn’t deliver the knock-out punch the revelation you expect. The usually entertaining Steve Buscemi (The Incredible Burt Wonderstone) returns as Randal but he’s wasted here and only given about 10 lines the entire film. Least Alfred Molina (The Sorcerer’s Apprentice) as a Scare Professor makes the most of his role in, again, a criminally short role.
I must point out the one gem in the casting. Dame Helen Mirren (Hitchcock) is absolutely terrifying as Dean Hardscrabble of the Scare School in both a visual medium and controlling voice. Pixar came up with a genuinely scary character which actually out does everything else in the film… considering this is a film about the world of MONSTERS, that’s saying something. Thin, poised and a thinly body, superior minded scarer, Hardscrabble has the upper body of a dragon but is “Dean-ified” in a brown suit to match her body colour and her bottom half is a seemingly everlasting centipede. Throw in Mirren’s holier than thou tone and a memorable character is born, even if they totally castrate her effectiveness at the end of the film.
What I can’t slag off Pixar for is the level of detail in animation. They truly keep out doing themselves with every film they produce. Every film frame is filled with sugary goodness which I want and expect from them. The scenes where the monsters are running through the summer camp dark woods in the human world are close to artwork. That said, I found myself getting frustrated with a complete lack of end product here. With such a boring plot and sleep characterization, it’s a case of style over substance. Similarly, the worst example of this is the dull and clichéd but beautiful to look at The Blue Umbrella short which opens Monster University.
As said I previously, I find prequels as a format pointless, especially here. There are some nice touches like how Randal ends up becoming Sully’s nemesis after the Scare tournament. In fact, a lot of the film’s cuter moments come from the Scare tournament and the house’s characters. The crowning moment is when one of their housemate’s nice and caring mother (whose house it is they live in anyway) drives them somewhere on a challenge and decides to politely wait in the car for their return by listening to thrash death metal. That said, these moments really are few and far between. Whilst the little ones maybe entertained by the various safe and clean monster frolics, I was relegating myself to clock watching duties as there’s no real level for them to lock on too.
I was a bit confused by Monsters University’s final message – “it’s okay to work your way up from the bottom, you don’t need a fancy education to succeed at life”. As a university graduate whose still looking for work I can sympathise, but for a specialist job sector in the world of monsters like scaring I imagine it’s like going for a degree like Biochemistry at Oxford. You can not work your way up from janitor at a science lab to head of research and development. Same logic applies here. Silly message in the circumstances.
Usually I’m generous to kids films if they’re at least half decent and teach morals but Monster University is pure cash in. If you’re a fan of the original you will be left disappointed. There’s no sense of Pixar magic here to inspire children like Monsters Inc. did. Perhaps we’ve come to expect when maybe it was a flash in the pan and the future doesn’t look bright either. Pretty to look at but ultimately missable. Sad to say that really in all honesty.
