Dave's Blog

{4.5/5} “If you’re not scary, what kind of monster are you?”

Mike is attending Monsters University so he can become a scarer. His roommate is Randall, who can disappear. Mike studies a lot, but no one thinks he’s scary. On the other hand, Sully is scary looking but he doesn’t study at all. They don’t exactly hit it off but they end up having to work together. They make a bet with Dean Hardscrabble that will see them return in triumph to the scare program or leave the university in disgrace.

Monsters University was released earlier this year. It’s a prequel to Monsters, Inc.

Prequels are tricky, but I thought if anyone can do it Pixar can — and I was right.

It’s not as brilliant as Monsters, Inc. but that would be nearly impossible. This is a great movie — there is some silliness, but lots of genuine laughs.

The ending is inevitable but it’s certainly earned — you don’t get there the way you expect.

One clever aspect is the scare cards — like baseball cards except for scarers.

The music is fun and catchy — I especially liked the beginning and the end. I didn’t detect any themes from Monsters, Inc. even though the composer is the same — Randy Newman (Toy Story).

Billy Crystal (The Princess Bride) and John Goodman (King Ralph) reprise their roles of Mike and Scully from Monsters, Inc. Steve Buscemi (Ghost World) also returns as Randall.

Helen Mirren (Gosford Park) voices Dean Hardscrabble. There are a few other voices you might recognize.

The movie was directed by Dan Scanlon (the mockumentary Tracy).

I don’t usually pay too much attention to movie studios, but I do pay attention to Pixar. I’ve seen every Pixar movie except Cars 2. They’re all worth watching and my favourites are The Incredibles, Monsters, Inc., Toy Story, Toy Story 2, and WALL-E.