|
How entertaining? ★★★★☆
Thought provoking? ★★☆☆☆ 12 June 2013
This article is a review of MONSTERS UNIVERSITY.
|
“Your hands are as big as my face!” Squishy
After two less-than-stellar offerings from the once unassailable Pixar Studios, in the form of CARS 2 and BRAVE, my fingers were firmly crossed, to the point of losing circulation, that their latest project would be a return to form. Not only had they a bit of redeeming to do, the animation powerhouse were taking one of the most beloved from their canon, MONSTERS INC, and expanding the universe in the form of a prequel. Rest easy peeps, MONSTERS UNIVERSITY is a pleasure; and while it doesn’t reach the giddy heights of its predecessor, or the likes of TOY STORY 3, it emerges with a solid 2:1 degree.
After two less-than-stellar offerings from the once unassailable Pixar Studios, in the form of CARS 2 and BRAVE, my fingers were firmly crossed, to the point of losing circulation, that their latest project would be a return to form. Not only had they a bit of redeeming to do, the animation powerhouse were taking one of the most beloved from their canon, MONSTERS INC, and expanding the universe in the form of a prequel. Rest easy peeps, MONSTERS UNIVERSITY is a pleasure; and while it doesn’t reach the giddy heights of its predecessor, or the likes of TOY STORY 3, it emerges with a solid 2:1 degree.
|
|
|
|
|
As stunningly animated as MONSTERS UNIVERSITY is, check out the depth of field in some of these stills, one can imagine an extremely difficult task was the humour. College jokes for all ages, that’s a nightmare fine line. While the hilarity is not of COMMUNITY standard, there are more than enough chortles to satisfy. However, the instantaneous insertion into an imaginative world is given a worrying start. We meet Mike Wazowski (Billy Crystal) as an ostracised, dorky, and likeable, kid on a school trip to the Monsters Incorporated complex. There his bravery and skills are shown, and his desire ignited to enrol at M.U., though there is something saccharine and heavy-handed. The scene seems to be there to create Mike’s underdog status that will persist throughout.
The modus operandi of UNIVERSITY is rivalry. Mike’s uphill struggle, to be the best, against the college elite, the naturally gifted scarers on the prestigious scare program, is our way into the world. Gone are the thrills of INC and in its place are belly laughs and sentimentality. We stray into gloopy MADAGASCAR franchise territory, where lessons are required to be learnt. Recreating the magic was going to be too tall an order perhaps, so delivering a different dynamic is both admirable, and disappointing when it doesn’t quite come off.
|
|
The first day and Mike meets roommate and future nemesis Randall Boggs (Steve Buscemi), a benign presence until a misjudged, forced animosity creation. The meat of Mike’s competitiveness is James P. "Sulley" Sullivan (John Goodman), all bravado, trading off the name of his famous father, and Johnny (the brilliant Nathan Fillion), head of elite fraternity, Roar Omega Roar - snobbishness and superiority are the order of the day for the house. The latter’s acolytes are funny in a jock way, especially Chet Alexander, a pumped-up crab.
The plot turns on Mike and Sully being expelled from their major, by an extremely draconian and unjust decree from Dean Hardscrabble (Helen Mirren). The move is lazy on the filmmakers’ part. It is so the duo can team up in the (admittedly inventive) Scare Games to win back their places. (The setting up of Facebook in THE SOCIAL NETWORK was handled more expertly.) MONSTERS UNIVERSITY shifts into sports movie tropes, hammering the audience with striking design and japes, mostly distracting from genre clichés.
Like a football match, the energy of the movie ramps up and is dialled back down, ramped up and dialled down; leading to a climax that doesn’t touch INC’s door ride. The supporting characters are relied on to enliven, which is a rarity for Pixar, and normalcy for those animations with lesser ambition. One of the highlights though is the celebration of hard work. Mike is the equivalent of Hermione from HARRY POTTER, not about luck, rather skill through diligence – a moral often unengaged in modern pop culture.
Not magna cum laude then, but sporadic virtuoso work.
|
|
