Since hearing about the prequel to one of my favorite Pixar films, Monsters, Inc., I've been rather excited about Monsters University. The end result, while not awful, isn't fully what I expected either. Following Sulley and Mike through their first year of college, Monsters University is a prequel breaking the tradition of sequels, and they do a pretty good job of it on the technical end of things. Overall, the 3-D, while cool, is mostly unnecessary. I actually forgot about it at one point.
As you'd expect from a Pixar film, the animation and attention to detail are stunning, but the film lacks that depth of emotion that's going to make me want to watch it again and again. Sure, the story is interesting "“ despite what you see in Monsters, Inc., Mike and Sulley don't start out best friends. They're complete opposites. Unsurprisingly, Mike's the overachieving nerd, and Sulley's the natural scarer getting by on reputation and natural talent. After an altercation with the Dean, the two are forced to combine their talents in order to continue to pursue their dreams of scaring. It's an interesting story filled with interesting characters, but somehow it just falls flat. Perhaps it's because we've already been introduced to this world in Monsters, Inc. and the novelty has worn off. Monsters University is an enjoyable movie overall, but compared to Pixar's past works, it just doesn't hold up.
As before in Monsters, Inc., the performances from John Goodman and Billy Crystal work together seamlessly. The addition of Helen Mirren as Dean Hardscrabble adds another layer of greatness to the cast, even though her character is completely stereotypical of the "villainous academic". The characterizations in Monsters University are nothing if not textbook.
It's a kids' movie, so the story is completely predictable. Basically, you're just along for the ride. But that's not necessarily a bad thing. Monsters University isn't Pixar's finest work by any means, but it's definitely not the worst animated movie I've seen. Despite its issues with predictability, it is a solidly made film. While I'm disappointed, that could also be attributed to my own high expectations. Perhaps I should just learn to expect less from Pixar these days.
