In it’s illustrious career, Pixar have only rolled out a handful of sequels (Toy Story and Cars) and now it’s rolling out its first prequel, 12 years on, Monsters University. Alongside Buzz and Woody, Mike and Sully are two of the most recognisable characters from Pixar.
The prequel sees our beloved characters meeting for the first time at Monsters University and lets just say they weren’t exactly the best of friends back in the college days. And when I say not exactly the best of friends, they hated each other. But through the Scare Games, which Mike enters to prove himself as a scarer, we get to see how the two push aside their differences and become the best of friends.
Billy Crystal, John Goodman and Steve Buscemi all reprise their roles here and as is Pixar tradition now, John Ratzenberger is in there too. Vocally, its hard to imagine Mike and Sully been voiced by somebody else. Crystal and Goodman have a great chemistry together and to their credit, Mike and Sully even sound a little bit younger. All very authentic.
Visually, things are rather spectacular for Monsters University. It’s bright and vibrant and is even more impressive than its 2001 inspiration. Unfortunately, this improved look, while stepping up an obvious gear tech wise from 13 years ago, has at times a hyper realistic look to it and subsequently the movie loses some its charm as a result. Not much mind, but enough to be noticeable. Its fair to say that this prequel isn’t a patch on the original. The original was incredibly sweet and cute, aided much by the addition of Boo. This time round, Mike and Sully have to stand on their own two feet with no cutesy kids around. And while its great to see the characters doing something else, they’ve lost some of their charisma in the process. That said, Boo does make an appearance, but blink and you’ll miss it.
Randy Newman is back on soundtrack duties again and, like the movie itself, that also loses a bit of its charm. It’s quite bland and tame compared to his past offerings and it really hits home during the end credits. And speaking of bland, the 3D version offers absolutely nothing worthy of a premium 3D price tag. The sense of depth seems like an after thought, and while gimmicks of things flying at your head, are gimmicks, it wouldn’t have killed anybody to throw a gimmick in here.
Gripes aside, Monsters University is a whole lotta fun. There are some great laughs and incredibly clever touches, which nod in the direction of Monsters Inc. While it can’t hold a candle to the original, It is genuinely great to see how Mike and Sully become best friends and the kids will love it!
