Monsters University
Dan Scanlon
The story: Before they were best buds teaming up in Monsters, Inc (2001), Mike Wazowski (Billy Crystal) and Sulley (John Goodman) did not always see eye to eye. As, um, “freshmons”
at Monsters University, an eager and studious Mike and a laidback Sulley take an initial dislike to each other. But after they get kicked off the scaring programme, the only way for them to get back in is to work together to win a scaring competition.

Monsters, Inc (2001) was both a critical and popular hit. It earned more than US$562 million worldwide and received a glowing 96 per cent rating on the review aggregator rottentomatoes.com.
Its central concept was fresh and clever – the screams of children powered the city of Monstropolis and so monsters would harvest them by scaring the little ones at night. Add quirky, welldesigned characters and a generous sprinkling of humour, and the result was a film that appealed to the young and old.
There is even a heartwarming twist at the end – the monsters realise that laughter generates even more power than screams and change their mission to entertaining kids instead.
Perhaps the twist was too neat and happy that capitalising on the film’s success with a sequel would have been tricky. So Disney Pixar scares up a prequel instead, complete with the problem that plagues most prequels – the lack of surprise.
As creative as the Pixar team has been all these years, Monsters University does not solve this conundrum in a fully satisfactory way. The key plotline here has Mike and Sulley taking part in a scaring contest that they need to win to get back on the scaring course.
Although they are the underdogs, there is not enough excitement in watching how this plays out.
The school setting is also too familiar, from the classroom scenes to the rivalry between fraternity and sorority houses, even if it is given a monster makeover.
Still, the characters have generated so much goodwill from the first film that there is some pleasure here in watching how Mike and Sulley go from being at loggerheads to being best pals.
The origin of their rivalry with the chameleon- like monster Randall Boggs (Steve Buscemi) is also revealed here.
There is also visual appeal in the vividly coloured film and some cute throwaway jokes, including a snail rushing to get to school on time.
Among the new characters, Helen Mirren’s formidable Dean Hardscrabble leaves the biggest impression, and the scuttling of her many legs each time she appears is a nice touch. But her character could have been better embedded into the story.
The themes here of friendship and finding your place in the world are well-meaning but have been explored to better effect in past Pixar offerings such as the Toy Story movies (1995, 1999, 2010).
Monsters University could well take a lesson or two from them.
(ST)