davidh777

I know we don't usually do reviews threads for younger-skewing movies, and two months of silence in the pre-release thread should have told me something, but this is a sequel/prequel to a beloved film so I figure we can try it...



Billy Crystal as Michael "Mike" Wazowski
John Goodman as James P. "Sulley" Sullivan
Steve Buscemi as Randall "Randy" Boggs
Joel Murray as Don Carlton
Sean Hayes as Terri Perry
Dave Foley as Terry Perry
Peter Sohn as Scott "Squishy" Squibbles
Charlie Day as Art
Frank Oz as Jeff Fungus
Helen Mirren as Dean Hardscrabble
Alfred Molina as Professor Knight
Nathan Fillion as Johnny Worthington
Aubrey Plaza as Claire Wheeler
Tyler Labine as Brock Pearson
John Krasinski as "Frightening" Frank McCay
Bonnie Hunt as Karen Graves
Bobby Moynihan as Chet Alexander
Julia Sweeney as Ms. Squibbles
Beth Behrs as Carrie Williams
John Ratzenberger as a Monsters, Inc. employee

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Jon2

Saw this tonight. Just excellent. Loved it. A definite buy for me when it comes out on blu.

Rainet

This may be an odd question, but i never saw the first one. Would 3 and 4 year olds enjoy this, or is the humor more geared toward 8 year olds?
I know The Incredables while more geared toward older kids, the young ones can still enjoy the action.

Mabuse

Can't speak for the new one, but my two daughters enjoyed the first one from around the age of 2. They don't get all the jokes...I'm not even sure they think it's a comedy, but they like the little girl, the two lead monsters who are very lovable, and the colorful and fun characters and designs.

Kal-El

This one's actually not on my radar for the summer. Someone tell me this isn't just Revenge of the Nerds in CGI?

Jon2

There is an aspect of that to it since it is an underdog story... but that describes a lot of Pixar movies. If you liked Monsters Inc, then I think you'll like this one as well.

In fact, I'd recommend to anyone who hasn't seen MI first, to watch MU, then watch MI. MU is a perfect prequel as it really sets up things for MI.

Quite unlike what happened with Star Wars.

Rex Power Colt-Robot Man

Prequels destroyed my childhoooooooooood!

DJariya

Interesting that Pixar decided to make a prequel to Monsters Inc. instead of a sequel.

I like Pixar movies, but don't normally see them in theaters. I'll see if I have time to check this out.

lisadoris

Quite a fun movie. There are certainly elements of Revenge of the Nerds but in a good way.

milo bloom

A lot of fun and a big step up after Cars 2 and even the average Brave. Kept waiting for the disco ball scene from the trailer and it never came.

Michael T Hudson

We are taking out daughter who is 3 to this today. It will be her first movie in the theater and she loves Monsters Inc.

RoboDad

Well, it kind of did, it just wasn't Mike.

Hokeyboy

A warm, welcome, enjoyable movie Didn't reinvent ANY wheels, but I loved going back into this universe.

lizard

Yes, that was my feeling also. It was better than I was expecting for a prequel/sequel to my favorite Pixar movie. Watched it in a kid-filled matinee; well worth my five bucks.

B.A.

I was exhausted and imitated my dad and grandfather by falling asleep a few times.

From what I remember it was good, but not great. The rest of the family really enjoyed it.

starman9000

We liked it. Haven't been to a packed theater for a while, so that was fun. Definitely didn't cover much new ground (revenge of the nerds, blades of glory, etc..) but they pulled it off well and the animation was terrific.

The Blue Umbrella didn't really seem to fit in with the other Pixar shorts. I was enjoying the found faces aspect, but then just slapping emoticons on the umbrellas seemed strange.

Hokeyboy

As much as I loved TS3 and really liked MU and Brave, I do miss the daring, creative, boundary pushing Pixar of The Incredibles, Ratatouille, Wall-E, and Up. Their next few films (other than Finding Dory) do look like a return to that era, so I have hope.

You've justified your existence to Disney stockholders, Pixar. Now get back to being the creative powerhouse you are.

Groucho

I gave it 3/5. It was fun, but not as clever or imaginative as the first film. I would have liked to have seen some bookends with Boo.

Mabuse

Not nearly as bad as Cars 2 but still pretty bad.

First, on a fundamental level the whole concept is just wrong headed. The story of Monsters Inc is about how the monster world used a corrupt source of power. Kids' screams are a source of power but they discover that kids' laughter is an even stronger power source and Mike ends up being the top power producer because he makes the kids laugh. So Monster University feels strange because 1) it's all about these characters going off to school to be indoctrinated with a false belief about the source of energy and 2) watching Mike insist he wants to be a scarer when ultimately we know that being scary is not that great a benefit. Ultimately it just proves how little thought went in to the script. It's just "Mike and Sully Go to College!!!" Maybe next we can finally get Beetlejuice Goes Hawaiian.

There's nothing in the story as clever or brilliant as the original film's concept of energy, screams, doors, and scare floors. The only time MU is enjoyable is when it briefly revisits these concepts.

The idea of them going to college was such a completely awful decision. The filmmakers paint themselves in to multiple corners with the paradoxical idea of a G rated college comedy and simultaneously a "who's scariest" contest in an all-ages film where if you go too far you scare the shit out of the five year olds in the audience. It's worth noting that the original Monsters Inc only shows a kid being scared in his bedroom once...maybe twice.

It would have been better if it had been more like Real Genius. The students who spent all year developing the "summer camp door" seem like their story would have been more interesting to tell than the endless, plotless Scream Games story.

I will compliment it for being very funny. It had a lot of absurd gags. But the film had neither the brain nor heart that the best of Pixar delivers.

And if you want to know what the future will look like go see The Blue Umbrella. It was amazing, next level shit. The highest of high tech and yet restrained and perfectly timed.

Sondheim

It took me a while to warm up to it, but I thought this was pretty great. Definitely my favorite Pixar film since... Up, maybe.

It's not perfect, of course. Like Up, it has some tonal problems - and there are parts in the first half of the film that just kind of drag as it reiterates dozens of other college comedies (minus the raunch.) Overall, it lacks the sheer imaginative power of Monsters Inc., which I consider to be one of Pixar'x two or three best films.

There are, however, some very funny throwaway gags (for some reason I found the bit about the mother's music preferences to be hilarious.)

I was prepared to write it off as an enjoyable but minor effort, but the stuff after gave it a lot more emotional depth and brought the film to another level.

Besides all that, I've always thought that the monster universe was Pixar's most imaginatively conceived world. While this didn't really expand the mythology of that universe as much as I would have liked, it's still a pleasure just to return to the world and these characters.

Though I would prefer to see Pixar focusing on original content, I wouldn't mind too much seeing a sequel to this in another ten years.

cungar

Anyone else think the dean was voiced by Anne Robinson from the Weakest Link and not Helen Mirren?

milo bloom

Somehow I was never interested in all those old college movies, so I never saw this as derivative. I mean, I'm aware of the other movies and their general cliches, but a movie repeating tropes doesn't bother me if the characters and setting are changed enough to give it something of a fresh perspective.

I've mentioned before my bias for animation, maybe it's just that transplanting into another universe with all creative monster designs (including architecture and such) that increased my enjoyment.



As for the fact that we later learn laughter is a better energy source, I'm actually glad this movie didn't do any "winks and nods" at the idea. I think that would have cheapened the movie. We got a true prequel - very few callbacks (callforwards?), just enough to make us sure we were in the same universe.

bluetoast

I thought it was all right. Big fan of the original, and of Pixar in general, but this is definitely not their best showing.

The Blue Umbrella wasn't that great either. The animation was excellent but man did it remind me a bit too much of Paperman. Soundtrack was a bit over the top too.

Groucho

My thoughts exactly.

Tom Creo

I was hoping to see Boo's door getting readied on Mike and Sulley's first day. C'mon Pixar, throw me a bone! I so wanna see Boo again.

Overall, just an ok film. Loved seeing Mike and Sully again but not as heartfelt as the original classic.