Monsters University

Reviews from the Dark Side presents
Monsters University
 Released 6/21/13, now in theaters

Pixar's first major release of the year, Monsters University, rolls into theaters this week.  Does anyone really need to know MU is the prequel to Pixar's 2001's Monsters, Inc?  Billy Crystal and John Goodman return as the voices of Mike and Sully, the main protagonists from Inc.  So, without further ado, let's get this underway.

Friendless child monster, Mike Wazowski (Crystal) has dreamed of becoming a Scarer at the prestigious Monsters, Inc since he took a class field trip to the facility.  But to be a top flight Scarer who frightens the living daylights out of small human children, you need training.  And where does a young monster in Monstropolis get the best training?  Why, you go to the best school in the land, Monsters University. 

Mike is a whiz at scaring theory.  He's memorized every technique and philosophy on the subject since he was a little monster.  The only problem is that even as a large green eyeball, he's not very scary. 

Scary is what fellow student, James P.  "Sully" Sullivan (Goodman) does best.  Sully is a slacker trying to coast through school on his family name.  He has the roar, the look, and the attitude to be a top student.  But, his technique is lazy and sloppy. 

Mike and Sully don't like each other much which makes it all the more difficult when they are forced to team together with a group of misfits from the woefully pathetic Oozma Kappa fraternity.  Thanks to their bickering, Mike and Sully have managed to anger Dean Hardscrabble (Helen Mirren) and have been kicked out of the University's Scare Program.  They can re-enter the program if they can take the ragtag OK crew and turn them into champions at the Scare Games, a competition where rival fraternities/sororities take part in several physical challenges to test their scare abilities.  The odds aren't good as their chief rivals are the privileged, arrogant jocks of the Roar Beta Roar frat.  Mike and Sully may never realize their dreams (of course, you know they do if you've seen Monsters, Inc). 

I usually try to go more in depth with my reviews, but I'll have to make this short and sweet.  BEST...MOVIE...OF...THE...YEAR!  At least, so far.  What else can be said?  MU is one of those very rare occasions when the sequel/prequel might be as good or better than the original.  It's that good.  It's that funny from beginning to end. 

Crystal and Goodman are great as usual, but the standout performer here is Art (voiced by It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia alum, Charlie Day), the hairy, spidery-type monster in the OK fraternity.  If you've ever seen Day in Sunny, you have some insight as to how manic Art can be.  That is to say he's nuts squared. 

For me, at least, Pixar's offerings over the last several years have been lackluster with the few high-end exceptions of Wall-E and Toy Story 3.  I've written previously that I don't think it's possible for Pixar to make a horrid movie, but they have been a bit underwhelming.  Even Disney's Wreck-It Ralph blew Pixar's Brave out of the water in 2012.   DreamWorks, by far, has had my vote for offering the best animated features.  With MU, Pixar might have just crept back into the team photo. 

After seeing MU, I'm inspired now.  I'm off to watch The Croods.  I believe this could be a banner year for animation with the release of Epic and the upcoming releases of Turbo and Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 2.  I'll reserve judgment on Pixar's upcoming, Planes. It looks a bit too much like Cars for my liking though.  But, for now, Monsters University is on top of the mountain.  We'll see if it stays there, or if Gru and his minions have something to say about that in a couple of weeks.

The Dark Lord of the Sith says:

****1/2 stars

Ratings Legend
Zero *= Don't waste your time. Pure dreck! Dreck is too good for this! Blind me please!
1 *= Fuggedaboutit!
2 *= Average, Mediocre, Nothing Special
3 *= Good viewing. Much better than a poke in the eye.
4 *= Great. Could possibly foot the price of a non-Matinee.
5 *= Pure eye candy. Hall of Fame material here.