Review: MONSTERS UNIVERSITY

The wait is over! After years of hearing about PIXAR's second sequel (not counting Toy Story 3), we finally get Mike Wazowski & J. P. Sullivan's backstory with the film 'MONSTERS UNIVERSITY'.

We all have at least one lifelong friend. That friend that knows us as well as we know ourselves, and that has been through everything with us. We tell others about our stories and the adventures that created a bond between us. This is the story of how Mike and "Kittie" (as 'Bu' called Sullivan) met and forged their incredible friendship.

The main plot is quite simple to follow; it doesn't go into any big issues or unnecessary troubles but instead sticks to entertaining the little ones, the young ones, and the not-so young ones as well.

The main focus of the story is Mike, who wants to become a "professional scarer"; he enrolls at Monsters University, a place where creativity, ugliness, inner-roar, and pestilence are values every alumni must posses.

Due to his appearance and charisma nobody believes he can become a scarer, but he is convinced everything is possible and nothing, no monster nor creature, will get in the way of turning his dream into a reality.

Our thoughts:

'M.U.' (Monsters University) did a great job of tying subplots and ideas from the first film while, at the same time, giving people little bits of familiarity. The story is not as profound as the first one, it is in fact a bit flat, but we consider this a good thing. We feel that the movie focused on giving us a 'why' behind some elements of Monsters Inc. but always taking into consideration being original without being a story all on its own. Geez, that sounds a bit complicated...

In other words- it tells us an entertaining story with many new elements, but it doesn't leave out that "spark" that made its predecessor a success.

Getting into technical aspects is unnecessary for this flick, so we'll just tell you that the creativity on the characters was good, there is a lot to see and the animation work was excellent. Unfortunately the 3D isn't what we had hoped, especially because Monsters Inc. 3D was gorgeous! Too bad.

Something worthy of mentioning is the University's feel (which we give the art department credit for). To all those living in the U.S. and those living in other countries and are familiarized with American colleges, you will be glad to know that they spared no expense in making M.U. seem like a real campus- the traditions, the mannerisms, even the band music is present and all of it is amazing. A great job!

In conclusion: The film brings PIXAR back to its good days after the disappointing 'Brave' and 'Cars 2'. If falls just shy of being a new classic, but it sure will provide you with a fun time at the movies.

9.0 Good Popcorn Fun!