***
Before Mike and Sulley were the
top Scarers, they attended Monsters University to learn the fine art of Scaring
and all that it entails. Sulley comes from a long line of Scarers – he can
scare easily, but fails academically, whereas Mike is top of the class with
regards to theory but lacks the scariness of a ‘true monster’. After being
kicked off their course, they must compete in a series of team games to win
back their place and the respect of fearsome Scarer, Dean Hardscrabble.
Pixar cannot be faulted for their
inventiveness and attention to detail, which makes the film a visual treat. The
range of monsters on display is vast, and the university campus is enviable.
Indeed, the initial arrival at university is very true to real life, something
that younger viewers may not understand but will amuse the older members of the
audience. The games in which the teams must compete are also an excuse for the
writers to come up with some exciting touches, and there is humour to be found
here. Dean Hardscrabble (Helen Mirren) is suitably scary as ex-Scaring champion
determined to rid the Scaring course of those unworthy, and Sulley (John
Goodman) and Mike’s (Billy Crystal) blossoming relationship is done well, if a
little annoying at time.
Despite all this, however, I
still felt that the film dragged. We already know from the previous film that
Mike and Sulley will end up being successful Scarers, so this pre-amble seems a
bit pointless, actually. Also (spoiler alert) we know that the screams of young
children aren’t that powerful, with laughter being the best energy source so
watching our main characters pursing the art of Scaring is a bit of a drag.
Similarly, there was a severe lack of character development from Randal, the
fellow Scarer who lands the pair in a whole world of trouble in ‘Monsters, Inc.’
– here, he’s introduced and then cast aside, with his wicked side only being
expressed with the phrase ‘I’ll never lose to you again’. It’s a real shame and
a wasted opportunity. There are about three ‘endings’ prior to the actual
conclusion, meaning that the audience is bashed over the head with the ‘moral’
of the story until you want to scream ‘Get on with it!’. The repeated emphasis
on the meaning of the story seems to be a new thing for Pixar (just look at the
end of ‘Brave’) and the sooner they cut that out, the better – ‘Toy Story’, ‘Up’
and ‘The Incredibles’ did perfectly well without such forced teachings. There
are far fewer laughs to be found than in the earlier film, and overall the film
feels pretty average and unremarkable.
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