THE FOLLOWING REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS OF THE DISCUSSED FILM. READERS DISCRETION IS ADVISED.
Monsters Inc. quickly became one of Pixar’s biggest films early into the company’s success due to being the first in their catalog to be nominated for the Best Animated Feature Oscar (respectfully losing to Dreamworks’ Shrek). With Toy Story and Cars becoming ultra franchises that each generation of kids can’t get enough of, it was a matter of time for this one to have a follow up.
PLOT
2013’s Monsters University is a prequel that tells the origin of how Michael Wazowski became friends with James P Sullivan. Mike always wanted to be a scarer and work for Monsters Inc. to supply energy from human children screams before ever being a scare assistant. He went to the titular college in order to try fulfilling the dream and that is where he met Sulley who turned out to be a second generation scarer. They both apply for the scaring program but are warned by Dean Abigail Hardscrabble that students will be kicked out of the program if they fail the semester final. Mike studies to better his chances in passing whereas Sulley slacks off and relies on his natural talent while hanging out with the fraternity Roar Omega Roar who don’t accept the former. On exam day, they get carried away in trying to out scare each other that they accidentally damage the dean’s prize canister. She punishes them by testing them on the spot in which she fails them both. Sulley fails for the lack of technical knowledge, but she seems Mike not physically scary enough. Because of failing the exam, Roar Omega Roar kicks out Sullivan. When the next semester approaches, Mike takes another chance to prove himself by competing in the annual Scare Games (founded by Hardscrabble) where monster fraternities get to put their scaring skills to the test. He joins the fraternity Oozma Kappa to enter the games. When one teammate short, he tries to recruit his roommate Randall Boggs (Steve Buscemi) who ends up joining Roar Omega Roar instead. With no other choice, he recruits Sully. He then raises the stakes with Hardscrabble by making a bet that if his team wins, all can join the scaring program but will leave the college should he lose. The OK team includes: Art, Scott 'Squishy' Squibbles, Don Carlton and the sibling pair of Terri & Terry who share a body. Mike’s team miraculously passes the Sewers challenge where they must run through one in the dark and avoid stinging glow urchins; They only pass due to another frat cheating. They barely pass the second round in the library where they had to retrieve their team flag without disturbing the giant librarian. They do get invited to a party by the other competing frats, only to walk into a humiliating prank plotted by Roar Omega Roar. Mike helps his frat brothers regain motivation by taking them to Monsters Inc. at night and watch professional scarers use their differences to an advantage. This gives the team confidence to pass the next two games where they must avoid scaring human teenagers in a maze and hide in a frat house without being spotted by the game’s referee. Exceeding expectations, OK reaches the finals with Roar Omega Roar. They must outscore the other team in a scare simulator in the highest score with 1v1 matches between each members. OK ends up giving impressive scores but they still cut close within the final two rounds. Sulley is able to outscore Randall, only to inadvertently embarrass him in the process as he roars so loud his opponent's camouflage causes him to match a carpet of pink hearts. The embarrassment would bother Boggs so deeply that he vows to never lose to him again. Mike would actually lead the highest score when going one on one with Roar Omega Roar president Johnny Worthington III, which leads his whole team to victory. But shortly after, Mike discovers Sulley rigged his simulator to an easy level to ensure the win. Upset that he doubted him, Wazowski leaves in disappointment and the team discard the trophy. Ashamed of what he did, Sullivan confesses to Hardscrabble and accepts his punishment to be expelled. Before he could leave, Mike goes over the top to prove his worth by entering an experimental human door. He enters through the human world for the first time and tries scaring a bunch of kids in a summer camp, but he finds out the hard way they’re not frightened of him. He tries to go back to his world, but has to avoid adults. Sulley goes in to save him and when he finds him, they confess to their own inner fears which helps them make amends. When they try returning to the door, Hardscrabble deactivates it on the other side to keep everyone else safe. Desperate to get back, Sulley pulls off scaring a bunch of adults which gives them an extreme amount of energy to return to their world. Just when they make it back, the door explodes. Despite doing the unthinkable, they get expelled for their actions but the rest of their team make it to the scaring program as previously agreed upon. Before leaving campus, Hardscrabble admits their actions surprised her and made her change her outlook on scarers’ potential, wishing them good luck on future endeavors. The film ends with Mike & Sulley working in the Monsters Inc. mailroom where it would eventually lead to them working their way up as scarer & scare assistant duo.
THOUGHTS
I loved Monsters Inc. so it was a no brainer for me to give this a chance, which led to me naturally enjoying it. Dan Scanlon was able to step up in the director's chair and make an interesting perspective on this animated universe. As expected, the animation is impressive for giving unique designs to each monster spotted. There is so much vibrance with each one which brings the right amount of youth needed to feel fresh again. And in this platform, I can't deny there's a bunch of hilarious shenanigans to laugh about. When the slug was rushing himself to class only to make it by the post credits scene where the semester already ended, I just knew this was gonna be a fun ride. The majority of laughs really went to Oozma Kappa who all had different dynamics from one another who provided their own amount of giggles whenever the focus was on him. I enjoyed John Murray as Don because he's a veteran getting his groove back and nothing but positivity drives him to succeed. Peter Sohn was adorably great as Squishy because of his naiveness making him soft spoken yet confident in his own ability where all he has to do is sneak up like a zombie and that startles even monsters themselves. You do feel bad for him when Don ends up getting engaged with his mother he still lives with Sheri (Julia Sweeney) because he knows it's not ideal for the person you love as a brother become your step dad. Charlie Day was awesome as Art who may be oblivious but still has a good heart like the others. Hearing him say out of pocket things like that he's been to jail before and brags about having a separate toe left me in stitches. And I couldn't help laughing when it came to him touching the urchins when knowing the outcome because he intentionally did it to himself. That's an infinite example of setting yourself up for failure. Sean Hayes & Dave Foley were a good pair for their minor bickering yet are able to keep it together for the sake of success. Both made me smile for how different they were personality wise since Terry is a calmer and more reserved guy compared to his brother who's got a lot of energy to let loose. Seeing their perspective on how they defied the odds showed success can come from unexpected places. However, the main focus of Mike & Sulley, who are both well played once again by Billy Crystal & John Goodman respectively, also teaches that reality is gonna strike harder than the dream one way or another. Mike's confidence tops everyone else around him because he never thought of anything else to do than being a scarer, a job that makes a difference in his community. He grew being doubted by others, which only made him hungrier to get what he wanted. He refused to see the possibility that it wasn't his calling, which makes his revelation all the more heartbreaking. Sulley was the one who had a chip in his shoulder because he thought natural talent is enough for him to get through in life. His relationship with Mike sets up his own wakeup call that you gotta back it academically for bettering the chances of a successful future. He does the mistake in rigging the game because he was afraid of failure unlike Mike and didn't want to bare with disappointing others. Thankfully, he redeems himself in saving Wazowski and exceeding his own expectations. As they do what sounded impossible to others, it paved the way for them to do more than what they prepared for in the original film. Surprisingly, there is no true villain here that tries preventing them to succeed but instead people that are brutally honest. Johnny may have been a villain when appearing in Monsters at Work, but in this case, Nathan Fillion makes him solely a cocky guy who doesn't think anyone associate with him can make it. With that mindset, I wouldn't befriend him. As for Dean Hardscrabble, Helen Mirren presents her as like any dean, a strict no nonsense leader who doesn't waste time in telling how she feels. I feel like if people close to Mike gave their honesty on his chances in being a scarer, her opinion would've not been so hurtful to him and allowed him to reconsider what he wanted to do with his life. She was surprised of what he and Sulley did because it taught her that there’s no limit to one’s potential. Because of this, she’s undoubtedly a better to them than Mr. Waternoose. This was a delightful viewing, but I picked up on way too many things during multiple re-watches since its release. Like I gotta be honest when asking why does Mike have so much luggage going to college when he and many monsters hardly where clothes. He only carries his retainer and hat, so I don’t think he’d carry anything else since he’ll likely get his textbooks on campus rather than pre order. And I don’t understand why Fear Tech’s mascot pig Archie doesn’t continue to try making a break for it when Mike captures it on behalf of Sully. It didn’t look like it lost any energy, so it could’ve had another chance to flee. Also, Hardscrabble’s canister could’ve been better protected if it was pinned down elsewhere. It’s one thing to display your success, but another to put it at risk. Moving on, I can’t be the only one thought it was Mike’s fault to not know his whole team has to win the sewer maze together rather than rely on one teammate. Had he done that, their win would’ve looked stronger before the other team gets disqualified. And is it necessary for the librarian to literally throw our students for noise past their control? If you’re throwing out everyone who makes a footstep, that’s overdoing your profession. Hell, I even thought there should be a vandalism case for Roar Omega Roar to display pictures of embarrassing OK all over campus. The charity merch was enough to prove their point. I’ve said before but I gotta say it again when saying I hate continuity errors because they really mess up during the climax, where Mike has mud on his feet for one frame only for it to disappear on the next. Other than that, this film holds up very well for what it is. In short, Monsters University is a neat prequel that gives an interesting approach on friendship and success. If you enjoyed the previous film, I don’t doubt you’ll like this too.
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