Film Review | Monsters University

Adult life is good at making you forget just what a pain in the posterior school tended to be, especially when it came to end-of-year exams and, more especially still, the kind of exams that herald a move to a higher institution of learning. It's a memory that tends to hit us during early summer in particular: not only because of the influx of foreign students to the island (fresh faced, eager to tan and communicating with loud abandon) but because you're bound to hear jubilation or complaints pertaining to O/A-Level exams or university finals.

It's this familiar gamut of emotions that's exploited in Monsters University, Pixar's prequel to their highly successful (and irresistibly adorable) 2001 cute-creature-feature Monsters, Inc.

'University' charts the journey of the bottom-of-the-pecking-order young monster, Mike (voiced by Billy Crystal), who, despite being the least popular - read: least scary - beastie among his classmates, retains a plucky optimism about getting into a good scaring college and becoming a bona fide terroriser of sleeping children.

Notwithstanding his entirely 'unscary' demeanour, he manages to gain entry into a prestigious college. But his academic prowess is deflated when he comes head-to-head with Sullivan (John Goodman), a hulking monster coasting on his family's illustrious pedigree.

The two are forced to team up, however, after they fall foul of the school's authorities. Deciding that a potentially deadly off-radar academic contest would be their ticket to success, they assemble a team of nobodies (the only team that will take them) and join the fray.

Also featuring the vocal talents of the likes of Steve Buscemi (a chameleon-like beast whose moral compass is as slinky as his physical movements), Helen Mirren (the college's merciless matriarch), Monsters University is a slick prequel to an already beloved Pixar cartoon, albeit one that may not be remembered by the newest crop of young film consumers.

Unfortunately, it also feels a little bit extra. Unlike the dramatically satisfying Toy Story trilogy, where each sequel contributed something new to the characters, this just feels like a bit of a retread.

Despite being younger versions of the Mike and Sullivan we know - and despite them going through the inevitable 'friends before they were enemies' rigmarole - our two protagonists quickly fall into an all-too-familiar rhythm.

(Side note: it's actually a bit worrying how animation studios tend to rely on their star voiceover actor to add character to their creations. Crystal and Goodman here essentially play the kind of characters they're usually typecast as: Crystal is the ambling but resourceful champ, Goodman the gruff and bumbling lout with a heart of gold.)

What's enjoyable about 'University' is what is enjoyable about most Pixar films at their best: an exuberant story that speeds along at a charmingly manic rhythm, inspired character designs and a 'message' that may be simple but is never corny.

So there's one advantage to the basic setup of this prequel: given that it's set in a monsters' school, there's a lot more monsters to play with. There's something fun to look at in nearly every scene, so much so that this was almost excuse enough to make the film in the first place.

The plot is rambling, though, and so is the story's moral. At its surface, of course, this is a 'revenge of the nerds' kind of deal, but as the story twists and turns, it gives way to a more specific message. Though it's nice not to have a simplistic reveal underlying everything, the pacing suffers because of it, and as a result, 'University' lacks the kind of potent emotional punch that previous, more thematically pared-down Pixar features can boast of.

'University' is diverting enough, and the kids will likely enjoy it. But the fact that it even exists is the depressing thing. You'd imagine that a company like Pixar - whose product is both profitable and genuinely good - wouldn't succumb to the franchising craze that seems to be the standard for Hollywood these days.

But it also allows for a ray of hope in the form of the tender, and instantly loveable short 'The Blue Umbrella' - the pre-credits cartoon this time around.

Perhaps it's a sign of the times: the short and quirky films will be the ones that stick in the memory. And with phenomena like YouTube available to pretty much everybody, the sky's the limit.