Four stars. Rating: G, and suitable for all ages
By Derrick Bang
Delving into the origins of
popular characters can be quite a lark — consider the fun that’s been had with
younger versions of Sherlock Holmes, James Bond and the Star Trek crew — and Pixar has uncorked a collegiate charmer with Monsters University.
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| When an extra-curricular field trip goes awry, the members of Oozma Kappa — from left, Art, Don, Squishy, Terri/Terry, Mike and Sulley — find themselves being pursued by Folks In Charge. With few options for escape, our misfits are about to learn an important lesson: Salvation comes when friends work together. |
Spending more time in the
imaginatively conceived “monster universe” is delectable enough, and
director/co-scripter Dan Scanlon has sweetened the pot by supplying the inside
scoop on how monocular-eyed Mike Wazowski (once again voiced by Billy Crystal)
first met bodaciously blue-furred James P. “Sulley” Sullivan (John Goodman).
Naturally, it’s competitive
loathing at first sight. Isn’t that the way all grand friendships are born?
Although this prequel lacks
freshness and originality — try as they might, Scanlon and co-scripters Daniel
Gerson and Robert L. Baird can’t replicate the giggly, first-time awe generated
by 2001’s Monsters, Inc. — it compensates
with a warm-hearted story that extols both the virtues of friendship and
integrity, and the all-important notion that diversity is valuable for its own
sake.
Yep, even a world littered with
crazy-quilt critters isn’t immune to social pecking orders that ostracize
misfits and timid outcasts. Scanlon & Co. pull off an impressive trick
here: Even though we know the future of this realm’s scare industry — thanks to
the first film — this sparkling new adventure of Mike and Sulley sets up innovative
adversaries and challenges, while keeping a steady (single) eye on the core
message of camaraderie and integrity.
Resourceful as we might be on our
own, we’re always stronger when good buddies have our back ... and we have
theirs.
We first meet Mike during childhood
(voiced with high-pitched, little-kid sincerity, in these early scenes, by Noah
Johnston), as a teacher’s pet and correspondingly shunned know-it-all, who
nonetheless blossoms during a school field trip to the Monsters Inc. “Scream
Floor.” Little Mike is spellbound, as he watches veteran Scarers travel through
the magical doors that lead into the bedrooms of unsuspecting Earth children,
there to elicit the youthful shrieks and screams that supply the essential
power to the Monster Universe.
This, young Mike decides, is what he wants to do
in life.
