Monsters University

Monsters University

Review by John Wood

Prequels are difficult. Straight up prequels have a battle, a battle made harder by the fact that all building of sustainable tension isn’t possible. The audience know what’s coming, we know where the characters go next and as such film-makers need to decide whether they pretend they don’t know the future or the film is full of Easter eggs. This film goes for the latter.

Pixar have always been heralded as the company to beat in terms of fantastic animated cinema. Even their weaker movies still get Oscar glory (yes, I’m still hurt by Brave) and as such there is an expectation to what they do next. Now Pixar isn’t new to sequels, they made two amazing Toy Story sequels and a bad Cars sequel, but this is the first time they have tackled a prequel. If they had to do one, then Monsters Inc is a fine place.

10 years ago I BEGGED for this movie.

Monsters Inc followed Mike and Sully, a duo who were at the top of their scare game. They were known as the best to collect power from kids screams. This movie, Monsters University, takes place years before and tries to uncover how they got there and how they became friends during their time as university students.

Straight up it’s a generic set up and one that has trouble in its first act really being more then it is. During the first hour it became apparent that Pixar have effectively made their first real intentional piece of fluff. It is Pixar’s first real comedy, if you got rid of the monsters and actually just made them the actors, it would effectively be sold in the same way as The Internship or even Animal House. This isn’t bad, as there are some great moments of comedy, but it was quite weird to see how Pixar was almost dumbing itself down.

New characters in a prequel? PREPARE TO BE FORGOTTEN!

However, while not having a massive twist or a big reveal, the third act changes quite effectively and glimpses of Pixar brilliance slowly come in. It is not enough to take it to Pixar heights of quality, but it’s a firm reminder that we are dealing with Pixar and that they know how to wrap a film. It won’t beat the Door Chase scene climax from Inc but that’s okay.

The major concern is that while the film includes cool throwbacks to old characters and awesome set ups for them for the next film, it does hurt the film quite a lot. Without trying to spoil the original, it’s hard to really care for the scaring aspect knowing what we know about the following film.

If you just go to the film hoping to be reunited with old friends, then the film works. If you go in expecting a film worthy of Pixar, you will be disappointed. It’s just a fine kids film that still beats a lot of the competitors work.

RATING: Simmer