Cynics have suggested that Pixar’s recent move into spinning off its existing properties (first with Cars 2 and now with Monsters University) rather than producing more original content is (a) a sign of creative bankruptcy, and (b) a calculated attempt to further monetise old products. It would be naive to suggest that the latter consideration has absolutely no bearing on Pixar’s production strategy (they are, after all, a business), but somewhat unfair to overstate its importance as a motivating factor for the studio’s creative teams. While Monsters University falls short of the standard set by Pixar masterpieces like Toy Story, The Incredibles and indeed its predecessor Monsters Inc, it remains entertaining, affecting and visually impressive enough to prove that Pixar’s decision to return to the characters of Mike Wazowski and James Sullivan was justifiable on purely creative grounds, and constitutes an improvement on the mediocre Brave, which closed this same festival last year.
The plot is a fairly predictable tale of overcoming adversity, albeit one with a couple of unforeseen twists. Ever since he was a little monster, Mike Wazowski (Billy Crystal) has dreamed of becoming a scarer, working in the world-famous Monsters Inc factory collecting children’s screams. His hard work in school lands him a place at the prestigious Monsters University, where he meets James Sullivan (John Goodman), a lazy and arrogant monster trading on his noble family name. The two students are initially enemies, but soon begin to bond when a classroom accident gets them kicked off the scaring course and only a victory in the university’s annual Scare Games will see them reinstated. Forced to work together for the first time, Mike and Sulley slowly develop a grudging respect for one another, but the gruelling tournament begins to take its toll on their new-found friendship as the odds are increasingly stacked against them.
Anyone who’s seen Monsters Inc (or indeed any Disney movie) will know that things ultimately turn out fine for the two characters, but it’s a credit to Monsters University that it makes you care about their ordeal nonetheless. The film has a lot going for it, not least the returning voice talents of Crystal and Goodman, its clever subversion of horror (the film’s climax takes place at an actual cabin in the woods) and college movie cliches, and its stunningly animated realisation of a vast campus environment featuring hundreds of monster designs (although, as usual, 3D enhancement adds nothing to an already beautiful piece of work). References to the first movie abound throughout, but Monsters University is very much its own film, and Pixar have made some effort to ensure that it can work as a standalone piece. That being said, comparisons to the first film are inevitable, and unfortunately Monsters University is found wanting on that score. There’s undoubtedly a lot of fun to be had here, but the jokes and the plotline feel like they’re stretched just a little too thinly across the film’s fairly lengthy running time, and a good 15 minutes could have been cut from the second half of the movie at little detriment to the story or the humour value. Whilst fairly chucklesome throughout, Monsters University is simply not as funny as its predecessor, and the campus comedy genre from which it takes many of its cues seems an odd choice for the film’s likely age demographic. Wouldn’t “Monsters High School” have been a better choice? The film’s rather generic ‘sports movie’ plot about little guys battling to win the big prize isn’t sophisticated enough to cover the lack of belly laughs, and ultimately the whole thing feels a little bit like a missed opportunity.
All this may sound rather harsh, but Pixar’s superlative track record has set the studio some very high standards. Monsters University doesn’t quite match them, but it doesn’t fall far short either. There’s still an easy charm and warmth to the movie that lesser film-makers would struggle to replicate, and Mike and Sully remain hugely loveable characters even as clueless, immature college freshmen. Monsters University may not be a great film but it’s a good one, and what’s more, it’s unmistakeably a work of Pixar.
Monsters University will be released in the UK on Friday 12th July
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