Monsters University (2013)

Genre

Adventure | Animation | Comedy

Director

Dan Scanlon

Country

USA

Voice Cast

Billy Crystal, John Goodman, Steve Buscemi, Helen Mirren, Peter Sohn, Joel Murray, Sean Hayes, Dave Foley, Charlie Day, Alfred Molina, Tyler Labine, Nathan Fillion, Aubrey Plaza, Bobby Moynihan, Julia Sweeney, Bonnie Hunt, John Krasinski, Bill Hader, Beth Behrs, Bob Peterson, John Ratzenberger, Noah Johnston

Storyline

Since he was a kid, Mike (Billy Crystal) wanted to becomes a scary monster and planed to go to the Monsters University. Unfortunately when his dream is about to come true, he meets the lazy student James P. Sullivan (John Goodman) that threatens to mess off with his plans. 

Opinion

I really did not know what to expect from the prequel to a great film like "Monsters, Inc.", considering the film was made more than 10 years after the original. And knowing that usually prequels and sequels are kind of weak didn't help. But I guess Disney Pixar did what they do best, they made another good film.

So not only "Monsters University" marks Pixar's first prequel, but it gives us back the pleasure of the companionship of Mike and Sulley with a pleasant story of friendship.

If the original was a portrait of an odd couple, this one shows us the origin of the friendship between Mike Wazowski and James P. Sullivan in their freshman year at Monsters University. The plot pays many homages to the classic college comedies, and is based on the American college life, and despite the lack of any identification with my country, the film is funny and entertaining, and doesn't hold out on laughs.

It was interesting to see how all the main characters of the original had met, and what their relationships were like in the earlier days, but it was also great to meet some new characters, and despite the film lacks of Boo, there's a memorable and intimidating Dean Hardscrabble - voiced by Helen Mirren - that is remarkable. 

And, as usual, Pixar the animation is amazing. Yeah, I know, it's a cliché to say that but once again they crafted unique, appealing, vibrant, colourful, wonderfully detailed characters.