I’m getting pretty pissed at Pixar. The animation studio used to be a creative juggernaut that produced a steady stream of popular kid’s films that always had some cinematic art folded into their blockbuster formula. Now the stream is still steady but the artistry has been replaced with unnecessary follow ups to their modern classics. 3 of Pixar’s last 4 releases have been sequels (or prequels) and they recently announced another “Finding Nemo” on the way in 2016. I’ve bitched about this before but the latest revisit, “Monsters University,” has done nothing but fan the flames of anger. I want my old Pixar back! Now!
Now don’t get me wrong, these do-overs are not always a waste of time. “Toy Story 3” was fantastic but it could be said that film was the last Great Pixar that has been the cause of all of this incestuous filmmaking. Buzz and Woody’s third go-around made over a billion dollars worldwide so I get that that’s a lot of reasons to try and figure out other tales to retread.
Now who watched the original “Monsters Inc.” and couldn’t quit asking themselves “I wonder where Mike and Sully met each other?” Anyone? Me neither but now we get the chance to find out. Lucky us. The answer is (you guessed it) college, hence the name “Monster University”. Mike Wazowski (voice of Billy Crystal) is the lovable one-eyed monster from the original that doesn’t really have what it takes to scare. That doesn’t stop him from enrolling in the Scarer Program at MU as this is what he thinks he was born to do. Nobody believes in him, not even his future BFF Sully (voice of John Goodman) who comes from a long line of successful Scarers. Turns out the two do not get along and are effectively rivals whose competitive shenanigans get them kicked out of the Scarer program by the Dean of MU, Dean Hardscrabble (voice of Helen Mirren).
There only hope to get back into the program is to win the annual Scare Games but they both need to join a fraternity to be able to compete. The only frat house that will have them is Oozma Kappa that is the home of other oddball weirdos, of course, and the ragtag crew must go up against the vile Roar Omega Roar and win the Games if they have any chance to graduate from the 700 year old university.
That’s it. That’s the pitch. The entire film is pretty vanilla and slight but I’m sure the kids will eat it up as there are chuckles throughout. What’s missing is any emotional connection between the characters or the audience. Simply put the film is missing Boo, the cute little girl from the original. As Sully fell in love with mischievous little kid we did as well. It’s hard not to tear up when Sully has to say goodbye to Boo. “MU” has no such moment or investment. This is like a warm bath, pleasant enough but without much going on. This could have gone straight to DVD and fit right in on the shelf next to that latest Tinkerbell flick.
Each Pixar film usually features an advancement in Computer Generated Animation and “Monsters University” is no exception. The first “Monsters” showcased realistic fur, “Brave” had Merida’s gorgeous curly red hair and “Finding Nemo” took us under the sea. “MU” claim to fame is a new and improved Lighting technique called Global Illumination that allows for natural looking source lighting. Kind of goes along with the ho-hum nature of the entire project but I did find myself watching how great the lighting looked throughout the movie. This was the most entertainment I got from “Monsters University”; watching the beams of light fall across the campus and Sully’s fur. That alone should tell you something.