Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE: Monsters University

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Posted by Stu Jamieson (Member # 4626) on 06-29-2013, 07:42 PM:

Monsters, Inc. was Pixar's third animated feature and remains one of the jewels in their crown. Like Toy Story before it, it took a simple idea (in this case, monsters under the bed) and showed us the previously unseen point of view of the monsters doing the scaring. And it turns out that they're not that scary after all and they're merely doing their jobs: collecting childrens' screams and harvesting the energy therein to power their city. Indeed, they're actually scared of us. It was a neat idea and a thoroughly unique one which debunked the scary-monster-under-the-bed myth.

So it is that Monsters University arrives with much anticipation. The sequel has some mighty shoes to fill and sadly it falls some way short as it is surprisingly bereft of new ideas. What is presented here is simply a "further adventures of Mike and Sully" film which could easily have gone straight to DVD.

The film channels the frat movies of the 80s which seems like such a great idea; indeed it is a great idea, but the potential remains largely unrealised here. Taking most of it's cues from Revenge of the Nerds we see Mike and Sully teaming up with the university geek fraternity to win the day against all odds. What could have been an excellent dual level adult/child animated comedy (a genre pioneered by Pixar) disappointingly remains a resolute kids' flick.

This is Pixar sleepwalking. Monsters University is the Cars 2 of Pixar's Monster franchise; it's an entertaining children's movie, but it could have been (and should have been) so much more.

6 out of 10

Posted by Jonathan Goeldner (Member # 4854) on 06-29-2013, 08:05 PM:

I actually fell asleep on it. Okay, but not great. 'Monsters, Inc' 3D conversion was great, here though... eh, hmmm, not impressed. I think Pixar has fallen into Disney's trap of just making sequels just because they can and people will lap it up - I see it as floundering.

Posted by Stu Jamieson (Member # 4626) on 06-29-2013, 08:31 PM:

^ I tend to agree.

There is already a Monsters, Inc. 3D, eh? Must have blinked and missed that one. I've always thought that one was worth a 3D makeover.

Posted by Connor Wilson (Member # 6088) on 06-29-2013, 09:36 PM:

quote: Jonathan Goeldner
I think Pixar has fallen into Disney's trap of just making sequels just because they can and people will lap it up - I see it as floundering.

Not to worry, as the next few films in Pixar's pipeline are completely new IPs' (except for Finding Dory and the rumored Toy Story 4). It does look like Pixar's years of putting out gold after gold (namely 2007-2010) are over. The film scheduled for 2014, The Good Dinosaur, should see a trailer in front of Disney Feature Animation's Frozen.

MU. Better than Cars 2, and even Brave. Seeing a huge expansion to the Monsters' world was good to see. Namely, it was a bit too long, but necessary. And if it weren't for the suprise at the end, I would probably rate this lower.

The Blue Umbrella is a great short film. While Disney's Paperman covayed textures and emotions most say are found in 2D animated films into a 3D one, Pixar's The Blue Umbrella is a step into photo-realism. It looks great, and it was touching.

Monsters University: 8 out of 10
The Blue Unbrella: 9.5 out of 10

Posted by Sam Graham (Member # 2889) on 07-05-2013, 03:43 PM:

CINEMA: Regal Colonnade, Las Vegas, NV
AUDITORIUM: 13
PRESENTATION: Sony Digital 4K
PRESENTATION PROBLEMS: None [Cool]

RATING: Two stars (out of four)

THE PLOT: Ever wonder how Mike and Sully met? No? Well too bad, because Mama Disney needs a new pair of shoes. Wackiness ensues.

I didn't have terribly high expectations for this, but I certainly expected it to be better than a straight-to-video quality offshoot, which is about what it is. It's not funny. It's not creative. It just exists for profit. It's actually sort of depressing.

I didn't even like it as well as Cars 2.

Posted by Mike Blakesley (Member # 26) on 07-05-2013, 05:52 PM:

We will be playing this in a couple of weeks. I'm getting zero excitement around here for it -- where buzz for Despicable Me 2 was thru the roof (and the crowds are bearing that out). I hate it when Pixar coasts, but I guess it happens to every company sooner or later. They can't make masterpieces.

I'm surprised at all the hate being dumped on Brave in comparing this movie to it. Almost every review I've seen has had an "at least it's better than Brave"-type statement. I thought Brave was pretty good...but the last Pixar movie I really, really liked a lot was Toy Story 3, and before that, Ratatouille.

Posted by Stu Jamieson (Member # 4626) on 07-05-2013, 09:45 PM:

It is not better than Brave. And I too enjoyed Cars 2 more than this.

Posted by Mike Blakesley (Member # 26) on 07-05-2013, 11:20 PM:

That's why I said "almost every review" instead of "every review."

And I was referring to reviews published in magazines and such, not necessarily online fan reviews.

I somehow managed to drop a word in one of my sentences above; I meant to say "They can't always make masterpieces."

Posted by Marcel Birgelen (Member # 6801) on 07-10-2013, 04:38 PM:

Having seen The Internship a day or three ago, this felt almost like the animated and censored version of that same movie...

Yes, there were a few laughs, at least kind off. My girlfriend found little Mike incredibly cute and they also managed to put some kind of life lesson into it.

But in the end, it was actually quite mediocre. Ever since Cars 2, Pixar really lost a lot of steam. Maybe they've come to the point were the ego of the guys in charge stands in the way of new developments or maybe our expectations are just too high.

I hope they leave their existing franchise alone for now, Disney sure has got enough material left to stuff into their theme parks around the globe and create tons of other spinoffs. So please let those Pixar masterminds loose and create something astonishing and new next year...

Regarding the short in front of it: The Blue Umbrella... Yes, it was cute and it had some real breathtaking digital animation in it (if you know a bit about it, you know how difficult it is to make something look wet in a believable way). But this too totally missed the point of being funny, like For the Birds, Lifted or Presto... The previous short also was just like that: cute, but not funny. We deserved something really funny, but they unfortunately failed to deliver.

Posted by Michael Coate (Member # 757) on 07-10-2013, 09:58 PM:

quote: Stu Jamieson
Monsters, Inc. was Pixar's third animated feature

Monsters, Inc. was Pixar's fourth animated feature.

Posted by Steve Guttag (Member # 268) on 07-14-2013, 06:30 PM:

Well, I just saw this with the family. I have to say that the "Revenge of the Nerds" comparison is dead on. I must admit, I kind of enjoyed it but it is no cinematic masterpiece. It definitely did not live up to the first movie (which few do...in fact, I can't think of any, off of the top of my head).

I think it is somewhere between a direct to video and a major release and that is a shame.

For me, it was a 4 out of 10.

(I'm going to go against the grain here...I preferred Monsters University over Despicable Me 2).

Posted by Marcel Birgelen (Member # 6801) on 07-18-2013, 04:51 PM:

quote: Steve Guttag
(which few do...in fact, I can't think of any, off of the top of my head)

Right out of the top of my head:
- Star Wars V
- Toy Story 3
- Despicable Me 2

And that's where this list stops for me right now [Wink]

Posted by Steve Guttag (Member # 268) on 07-18-2013, 05:23 PM:

- Star Wars V (agreed but we are in the minority..."Star Wars" always outsells Empire.
- Toy Story 3 (-disagree)
- Despicable Me 2 (-strongly disagree)

Posted by Marcel Birgelen (Member # 6801) on 07-18-2013, 05:51 PM:

You have the right to disagree [Wink]

Another one for MY list:
- The Dark Knight