Sorry for the delay everyone, but I am back with the next post in my Pixar series of reviews! I’m going to try and play catch up, so expect more posts coming in the next couple of weeks, but in the meantime lets focus on what we’ve got for today. If you may recall last time we were with Pixar, I took a look at their masterful sequel, Toy Story 2, and it was so good I’m sure people were thinking how were they going to follow it up. Why with a brand new original flick from the mind of Pete Doctor a name many animation fans will recognize. He is one of the studio’s veteran’s (now the head of the studio after John Lasseter got kicked out), and one their most accomplished director having made films such as Up, Inside Out, and of course the subject of today’s review, Monsters Inc. So how do I think his directorial debut turned out? Well I’d say about as well as you’d think, so pretty darn excellent!
After a comical opening sequence that lays down the status quo, we are introduced to our two protagonists best friends, James P. Sullivan, and Mike Wazowski, and they world in which they inhabit, Monstropolis, a city where monsters of all different shapes, and sizes reside. They work at Monsters Incorporated, a company led by that uses children’s screams to power their city, and Sully is the most popular scarer in the business, much to the disdain of fellow scarer, Randall Boggs. Naturally things seem to be going their way with head of the company, Henry J. Waternoose, giving Sully a chance to show off his scaring skills to some new recruits, and Mike ready for his date with his girlfriend, Celia. However that all changes one night when Sully (doing work Mike was supposed to do) stumbles upon a human child who was able to get into the Monster world thanks to her door being unlock. Of course he, and Mike are freaked out, and eventually it becomes known to the Monster world that a contaminated human child is indeed on the loose. So now Mike, and Sully have to find a way to fix this mess by getting the child whom Sully starts to take a liking to, and names Boo back in her room before Waternoose, Randall or anyone else finds out. But with things getting more complicated than expected, that will prove to be a much bigger challenge than anticipated.
Doctor’s debut took a page out of Toy Story’s book on how to create a fun, and interesting world in that show not tell kind kind of way. The film doesn’t try to constantly spoon feed to the audience how this world work, and what the rules are. Even when there is exposition it comes off feeling natural, and makes sense within in the context of the scene (something that is not always easy to pull off). It also helps that this world of monsters is a lot of fun, and is just brimming with creativity like the reason why monsters need to scare children (which as stated before is for power), and how monsters are shown to be just as scared of children, as they are of monsters (they are said to be very contaminated, and are not to be touched). All of this is in service of a sweet, and funny of story of an unlikely friendship story between Sully, Mike, and their new human companion Boo, which is where a lot of the emotional heft that Pixar is known for is incorporated well here, but I’ve always found it to be underappreciated here. I mean that in when people are talking about the most tear jerking Pixar moments, I don’t usually hear this film talked about much, which is weird because this is one that almost made me tear up at times (When Boo gets scared of Sully at the testing, when Sully says goodbye to Boo, that ending scene), and I feel the script here is able to balance that excellently with the more comedic moments (of which there are a lot) which is always a tricky balancing act. As for the comedy in general, this is easily one of Pixar’s funniest films to date thanks to some clever visual gags showing off the monsters quirks to comedic effect, the witty banter between the characters, how the monsters see disgusting, and gross things as part of normal life, and of course the irony of how these ferocious beasts are really afraid of a little innocent child (a joke that shockingly doesn’t get old, nor is it overused too much). There’s also plenty of great messages concerning teamwork, good vs. evil (represented both by the corporation being corrupt, and how there are both good monsters like Sully, and bad like Randall), learning not to judge a book by its cover (that ones pretty self explanatory), and one that’s always resonated with me, the inherent power of fear, and how it can be used but how (spoilers) laughter, and joy is superior (it also makes the movie work as a parable to the 9/11 attacks that before its release, and its sadly just as timely as ever). Like Toy Story, Monsters Inc. is able to craft a truly imaginative world, and a truly exceptional story simultaneously.
Pixar is one company that’s dedicated to improving their craft in animation, and they’ve shown that since the beginning when they revolutionized the medium with Toy Story. But I’d be playing if I said they didn’t encounter any challenges mastering their craft, and with this movie in particular they faced the challenges of capturing the texture of fur for Sulley (2,320,413 of them to be exact). From what I hear, the animators had to go through through several trials in order to get the design, and rendering just right, and I think in the end it was all worth it because looking at Sulley’s fur, I am still impressed by the level of detail put to make sure each little strand fur looked, and felt natural. The animation in general still holds up quite well in many areas. For one, the movements of the characters feel smooth, and fast paced when they need to, and it is cool seeing how all of these different types of creatures move around which I’m sure that animators had a lot of fun working on (Randall’s animation in particular is a huge highlight thanks to his reptilian like demeanor, and a lot of fun to watch). Another fun sight to see is the which designs of all of the different monster we run into throughout, and what makes them even better is that not one monster onscreen looks the same, with each one sporting a unique look that captures their personality (This especially applies to the main cast), and even their workplace rank (the bigger, threatening monsters are the scarers, while the smaller, less menacing ones work as assistants or regular workers). As for the backgrounds, while somewhat limited in scope (the proceedings mainly stay in Monstropolis, and Monsters Inc. for the majority of the run-time, until the door chase climax), they do a good job of capturing what a seemingly ordinary city, or factory would look like with a Monster touch. Since this was also Doctor’s directorial debut he proves he is up for the task with a really well staged, and well lit film, and I really likes the way he handles the more intense, and action packed moments such as the aforementioned door climax (one of the best, and most inventive Pixar climaxes), and how he handles the quieter, more character driven scenes with the sincerity that’s needed. Those sequences are also helped by a very well rounded score composed by the one, and only Randy Newman (a favorite of Pixar). Newman brings a nice jazzy tone to help liven up the proceedings (the opening utilizes this extremely well), but he also handles the more emotional stuff perfectly with a nice somber, yet beautiful composition that makes the scene even more effective (same goes for the action packed scenes). It was also a nice touch to have Billy Crystal, and John Goodman sing as a duet for the song that plays in the end credits “If I Didn’t Have You” (also written by Newman), since not only is it fun hearing the two sing, but also because it sums up their the character’s friendship perfectly.
Every good Pixar movie needs a great protagonist, and this movie has not one, but two that fit that bill perfectly. Both Mike, and Sulley play off of each other perfectly, and are both great characters in their own right with both learning that they must both stick together as best friends no matter what situation they might find themselves, and respect their decisions. It also helps that both John Goodman, and Billy Crystal have excellent chemistry with one another, with Goodman playing the calm, and level headed Sully with ease, and Crystal capturing that frustrated, fast talking witty personality that Mike that makes so memorable. There’s a sense of camaraderie between that gives the audience the feeling that these two have known each other for a long time, and it helps make the audience want to root for them when they are in peril. They also come to develop a nice, touching relationship with the human baby, Boo voiced by Mary Gibbs, who is just super adorable, and funny in her interactions with Sully, and Mike (and is never really annoying which is something that easily could have happened). She also serves a the catalyst for Sulley, and Mike to realize that maybe there’s more to life than meets the eye, and it is sweet seeing them come to care for her as the film progresses (truly the beating heart of the feature). Then there’s our villains, Randall Boggs, and (spoilers) Henry J. Waternoose, and they both are interesting in their own ways. Randall works well as a rival to Sulley (not to mention he is also Boo’s monster as well), as his true motivations become clear as movie goes on when its revealed he is working on a device known as the Scream Extractor that will revolutionize scaring, and help with the current energy crisis. He is just a lot of fun to watch, and Steve Buscemi captures that slimy personality, and makes the character unlikable in a fun way. As for Waternoose, he is a CEO who is tired of watching his company go down the toilet, and is willing to do anything, even harm a child, in order to save it from disaster. I’ve always found him to be an underrated Pixar villain because all he wants to do is protect the monster world for the greater good (even if his action are very questionable, and he is pretty greedy, and only cares about the company more than anything else), and James Coburn does a good job as the character. Some of the other employees of Monsters Inc. are also a lot of fun to be with, such Jennifer Tilly as Mike’s snake headed fiancee, Celia (who calls him Googly Bear), Frank Oz as Randall’s worrisome assistant, Fungus, Dan Garson as the two fanboyish janitors, Smitty, and Needleman, John Ratzenberger as the banished Abominable Snowman (who is the complete opposite of abominable), and of course Pixar screenwriter, animator, and storyboard supervisor as Roz, the grouchy administrator of the scare floor (who’s always watching Mike Wasowski), who also turns out to be the leader of the CDA (the Child Detection Agency who gets some good laughs as well), as well as some other monsters who get a good line or two out. No matter, how big or small this movie is able to make most of its cast memorable, and fun to be with, which is something Pixar excels at.
Pixar strikes out in a good with way on the fourth time with Monsters Inc., a funny, clever, and touching flick, that manages to keep me laughing every time a watch it. It succeeds due to its witty script, clever screenplay, memorable characters, game cast, hilarious comedy, touching emotion, and so much more. I’ve always felt this film hasn’t gotten as much attention in recent years (though Kingdom Hearts 3 did help a lot), and I just hope this serves as a reminder of how great a film this is, and it may be one of my personal favorites of the studio as its one I find myself coming back to again, and again. And that’s about it for Monsters Inc. just a fantastic film that probably should have won that best animated feature Oscar (no hard feelings, Shrek). So folks, its time to move on to the next chapter of my Pixar reviews, where we will be exploring the deep blue sea, and try and find a lost little clownfish named Nemo.
Rating: A+
Leave your thoughts down below in the comments, and see you guys later!
Review Time 