Review 262: Monsters University

Monsters University isn't the most inspired offering from Pixar, but its an enjoyable watch and I found it great backstory Mike and Sully,

Mike Wazowski (Billy Crystal) and James P. Sullivan (John Goodman) are an inseparable pair, but that wasn't always the case. From the moment these two mismatched monsters met they couldn't stand each other. "Monsters University" unlocks the door to how Mike and Sulley overcame their differences and became the best of friends.

The plot is not as original as some of Pixar's other offering such Toy Story, Monsters Inc, Finding Nemo or Up and has been done loads of times but what keeps it afloat is the films strong and focus on the rivalry and eventual friendship between Mike and Sully.
Monsters University is not particularly strong in story but at the same time 

Because this is a prequel, we know that Mike and Sully are going to become friends by the end. That's a given. 

What Monsters University lacks in the story department, it more than makes up for with a bunch of good laughs.
Throughout the film we're treated to scene after scene of Mike and Sully's rivalry and trying to be better than the other and they're (along with the visual gags) often very funny and clever 

The journey that Mike and Sully go on is a surprisingly poigent  Over the course of the film, they learn that while they may not always have the qualities to live their life long dream, they'll eventually find their calling.

and it was fun to see them grow from these two rivals to best friends, even if it is pretty formulaic.
until the third act of this film.

It’s in the third act that the film takes some pretty unexpected turns and Mike and Sully's rivalry goes in a direction that  and we see how thay work together to get themselves out of that spot and how the final seeds of their long-standing friendship are sown.

On top of that, it has some genuinely good laughs and all that comes form it's clever comedy writing, funny and quirky characters and tension filled sequences.

Writer/director Dan Scanlon's direction is fun, the animation (as with most Pixar movies) is beautiful, the score by Randy Newman is catchy, the production design is stupendous (they basically took a collage building and monsterized it and you get the sense that the animators have really put a lot of time and effort into making it look terrifc). The character design is stunning, just like Monsters Inc, they created all types of monsters: huge monsters, tiny monsters, flying monsters, swimming monsters, the list is endless. The scare game scenes are exciting, there are some great moments of intensity and the ending was brilliant.

The voice cast is fantastic, it's so wonderful to see John Goodman and Billy Crystal back as Sully an Mike and they do a fantastic job at portraying the pre Monsters, Inc. selves. Mike is this ambitious scar major and Sully is arrogant and very competative.

We even see the return of Steve Buscemi as Randall and he's a joy, he's not the Randall we know from Monsters, Inc. He's this big nerd whose insecure and shy but over time he becomes more confident, ambitious and short-tempered beautifully setting him up for Monsters, Inc.

Joel Murray, Sean Hayes, Dave Foley, Peter Sohn and Charlie Day are hilarious as the members of the Oozma Kappa (Mikes team in the Scar Games), they are goofy at times but they are very welcoming as these sort of misfit monsters and their the kinds of guys you'd wanna hang out with.

The always dependable, Helen Mirren is just nasty as Dean Hardscrabble. She's a character who upholds a very strict code of ethics and thinks that students like Mike and Sully

Alfred Molina is also fine in his small, supporting role voicing Professor Derek Knight, the "Scaring 101" professor at Monsters University. Molina has rather articulatly describe Prof. Knight as a cross between a football coach and a drill sargent

I also didn't think I'd see the day when Nathan Fillion would play a high school jock. But he plays one so well.

Parks and Recs' Aubrey Plaza also has a noteworthy part playing Claire Wheeler, bringing her signature brand of deadpan humor to role. She's a gothic themed monster

Monsters University is a hilarious, sweet and heartfelt animated film and the closest thing that Pixar get to their former success, 3/5.

The Anonymous Critic.