Why the lessons in `Monsters University' are Pixar's most bold yet
SPOILERS BELOW. DO NOT READ THIS IF YOU HAVEN'T SEEN THE FILM.
If you don't care about the end being discussed, then by all means read on...
My wife and I saw Monsters University and both loved it. Many of the Top Critics on Rotten Tomatoes however, seemed to miss the point of the film entirely.
"This is a safe, predictable, edge-free, nearly bland effort from a studio that rarely hedges its bets." - Richard Roeper
"[It] conforms to [Pixar's] apparent drift toward the average, with toy sales taking priority over originality." - Liam Lacey
"Monsters University is cute, and funny, and the animation, though not exactly inspired, is certainly colorful." - Steven Rae
"Mostly memorable for being fine but forgettable." - Betsy Sharkey
Since 1995, Pixar has dominated computer animated filmmaking. They constantly win Academy Awards (9 nominations, 7 wins for Best Animated Feature) and are universally praised for their...
Pixar returns to its magical ways.
Dumb me! Dumb, dumb, dumb, dumb, dumb, dumb me! All summer I put my faith and hope in the big blockbuster films, the Iron Man 3's and Star Treks of the world. And from Man of Steel to Pacific Rim almost without fail these over budgeted, underwritten explosiony action films left me feeling disappointed and underwhelmed. Except for World War Z there is not a single movie I've seen this summer that I can truly say was a great film. Some were better than others (Oblivion and Pacific Rim were both pretty good) but considering their competition was Iron Man 3 and Star Trek Into Darkness that's not saying much. All the while I put off seeing Monsters U for weeks. "It looks silly" I said, "Pixar has lost its mojo" the idiot side of my brain insisted. Well, that sure teaches me. I will never doubt Pixar again. Even if they make another mediocre film like Brave, they have more than proven themselves still capable of making a damn good film.
Wall E will always be my favorite Pixar...
Even though It's A Prequel, "Monsters University" Continues to Surprise Us With Profound Insights
***This review may contain spoilers.***
Like "Monsters, Inc.", "Monsters University" (MU) won't win any recognition for its originality. Relating the tale of the first encounter between all-eye green cyclops Mike Wazowski (Billy Crystal) and blue, hulking, bear-like James "Sully" Sullivan (John Goodman) at the titular institute of higher "scare" learning, MU cribs all over the place. As other posters have noticed, MU borrows fragments of other college-themed movies like "Animal House", the Harry Potter movie heptology (seven films), and even a smidgen of "Back to School". Most tellingly, however, MU is heavily in debt to "The Hunger Games", since the meets held to determine which monster fraternities will be eliminated from the prestigious "scare curriculum" and even from the university take up the bulk of the film. MU robustly and hilariously satirizes the aspects of college and frat life you would expect, but later reveals unexpected insights about the limits of...
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