Monsters University

[NegiSpongie]

I saw the movie today, and I really loved it. It had a bunch of laughs and I was totally invested through the whole movie, and I really loved the ending, really different and I hadn't expected it. Also, I was the only one in the theater that stayed after the credits  (other than one family who I told that there was something afterwards).

[dragiiin123]

they really struck gold with that lake scene

[SG19]

My friend and I could see this tomorrow.

[terminoob]

I didn't know where to put this: http://www.slashfilm.com/pixar-will-scale-back-on-sequels-doing-one-every-other-year/#more-182897

 

I'm not too broken up about it, considering the only terrible sequel Pixar has done was Cars 2 (which was done purely for profit anyway so whatever). I'm pretty sure Pixar has the decency to not revisit Toy Story unless they have an absolutely killer script for it, so I wouldn't worry too much about Toy Story 4 coming in 2017 (just saying that in case anyone reads the article freaks out because they think the author's opinion is definitive). As long as they don't touch Up, I'm good with any Pixar film getting a sequel.

[Moar Boy]

Let's give it a try *insert coin*

[Wumbo]

The Incredibles desperately needs a sequel.

[terminoob]

The Incredibles desperately needs a sequel.

 

It does, and Brad Bird wants one, but he also wants to do it with the perfect script and he hasn't figured out what that is yet. I doubt we'll be getting one soon.

[So Sejima]

terminoob is right this is the most perfectest movie ever and don't correct that grammar error

[Wumbo]

Just saw this last night. Oh my God, I could not have asked for a better movie. It did everything right.

 

I think my favourite part about the whole thing was that Monsters, Inc. was more of a Sulley story, and this was more of a Mike story. Perfect balance. Loved all the characters. Loved the realistic twist in the story. Loved everything about it.

[MMM]

This is a great movie. The animation is great and it's pretty funny.

[Clappy]

So after finally seeing this today, I gotta say...this was not what I was expecting. Possible spoilers ahead, so I'm gonna do spoiler tags.

Spoiler

For starters, The Blue Umbrella should absolutely win Best Animated Short at the Oscar's. That was flat out brilliant. I, just like termi, had to keep telling myself that this was animated because the animation just looked so real.

Now about the movie. Everyone kept telling me going that I was going to love it since they knew how big a Pixar fanboy I am. The first thing that stood out to me was how bright and colorful everything was. The animation was absolutely top notch. But then came the story.

I'll be honest. If one thing scared me about this, it's that it's a prequel. I always have this obvious problem with prequels. We know what's going to happen and Monsters University was no different. We knew Mike and Sully were going to become best friends. We knew they were eventually going to become scarers/partners in crime. To me, it didn't take any chances to really differentiate itself from the prequel mold.

Does that mean I disliked this movie? Not at all. Despite my complaints about prequels and how MU didn't take any daring risks, it was still a good movie. I enjoyed how this was much more Mike oriented since MI was more about Sully than Mike. I really liked the opening sequence about Mike's childhood. I liked how we saw character development in Sully because I always pictured him to be this way in the original MI. I also liked how we saw the Randall/Mike & Sully rivalry develop.

However, I think what I enjoyed most of all was all the new characters. That Oozma Kappa crew absolutely grew on me really fast. I also highly enjoyed every scene Dean Hardscrabble was in. Helen Mirren is just a damn good actress. Same goes for Johnny Worthington III. Nathan Fillion is such an underrated actor and deserves to be a major star. Boy do I sound like every other person about him. I wish we saw more of Professor Knight and Frightening Frank McCay. I really liked the short amount of time we saw them. Especially Frank.

I also got to say, the ending was incredibly underwhelming. I know we had to have a feel good ending that eventually Mike and Sully got to their dream jobs, but doesn't it feel like a slap to the face that Randall probably ended up getting his degree to become a scarer while Mike and Sully eventually got their through countless promotions? It just came off to me as the whole purpose of going to Monsters University was to become a scarer and needed a degree to become one. I felt kinda cheated by that ending.

Despite all my complaining about the flaws, I still really enjoyed this. I have what I like to call a Pixar pyramid of greatness. Monsters University is definitely not in my 1st level. That belongs to amazing Pixar flicks like the Toy Story's, Finding Nemo, The Incredibles, Wall-E, and Up. Maybe in due time it has a chance to make the 2nd level with it's predecessor and Ratatouille. I think I'd put Monsters University in the 3rd (good Pixar flicks) with A Bug's Life, Brave, and Cars. The fact that I even have such a list goes to show how great Pixar truly is with animated films...and I'm gonna stop before I ramble on and on about Pixar's greatness.

[Wumbo]

I like how you left Cars 2 off your tier entirely.

[terminoob]

So after finally seeing this today, I gotta say...this was not what I was expecting. Possible spoilers ahead, so I'm gonna do spoiler tags.

Spoiler

For starters, The Blue Umbrella should absolutely win Best Animated Short at the Oscar's. That was flat out brilliant. I, just like termi, had to keep telling myself that this was animated because the animation just looked so real.

Now about the movie. Everyone kept telling me going that I was going to love it since they knew how big a Pixar fanboy I am. The first thing that stood out to me was how bright and colorful everything was. The animation was absolutely top notch. But then came the story.

I'll be honest. If one thing scared me about this, it's that it's a prequel. I always have this obvious problem with prequels. We know what's going to happen and Monsters University was no different. We knew Mike and Sully were going to become best friends. We knew they were eventually going to become scarers/partners in crime. To me, it didn't take any chances to really differentiate itself from the prequel mold.

Does that mean I disliked this movie? Not at all. Despite my complaints about prequels and how MU didn't take any daring risks, it was still a good movie. I enjoyed how this was much more Mike oriented since MI was more about Sully than Mike. I really liked the opening sequence about Mike's childhood. I liked how we saw character development in Sully because I always pictured him to be this way in the original MI. I also liked how we saw the Randall/Mike & Sully rivalry develop.

However, I think what I enjoyed most of all was all the new characters. That Oozma Kappa crew absolutely grew on me really fast. I also highly enjoyed every scene Dean Hardscrabble was in. Helen Mirren is just a damn good actress. Same goes for Johnny Worthington III. Nathan Fillion is such an underrated actor and deserves to be a major star. Boy do I sound like every other person about him. I wish we saw more of Professor Knight and Frightening Frank McCay. I really liked the short amount of time we saw them. Especially Frank.

I also got to say, the ending was incredibly underwhelming. I know we had to have a feel good ending that eventually Mike and Sully got to their dream jobs, but doesn't it feel like a slap to the face that Randall probably ended up getting his degree to become a scarer while Mike and Sully eventually got their through countless promotions? It just came off to me as the whole purpose of going to Monsters University was to become a scarer and needed a degree to become one. I felt kinda cheated by that ending.

Despite all my complaining about the flaws, I still really enjoyed this. I have what I like to call a Pixar pyramid of greatness. Monsters University is definitely not in my 1st level. That belongs to amazing Pixar flicks like the Toy Story's, Finding Nemo, The Incredibles, Wall-E, and Up. Maybe in due time it has a chance to make the 2nd level with it's predecessor and Ratatouille. I think I'd put Monsters University in the 3rd (good Pixar flicks) with A Bug's Life, Brave, and Cars. The fact that I even have such a list goes to show how great Pixar truly is with animated films...and I'm gonna stop before I ramble on and on about Pixar's greatness.

 

Spoiler

 

I want to respectfully disagree about the ending. I get why you feel cheated, because it seems like the whole plot of the movie was thrown out the window. However, that's like the real world (in certain fields, anyway).

Getting a degree probably helps a lot in becoming a scarer, but if you're scary, then... well... why do you need a degree? Monsters went to MU to get better at scaring, like Mike and Sulley. The only difference, however, is that Mike and Sulley got a four year education in one year. That final scare proved that they surpassed the program's expectations (and Dean Hardscrabble's) and that they were scary. They weren't scary at the beginning of the movie (I guess Sulley was, arguably, but he was too cocky), but by the end they were terrifying.

 

Scaring's like acting or art. If you can do it, then you can do it. You don't need some degree from a fancy shmancy school to tell you that you're good. Yes, the degree helps, because it shows you took the time to perfect your craft, but if you're already good at it then there isn't much a school can do for you.

 

Randall (and everyone else in the program, I presume) got to be a scarer by going to school, yes, but he needed school. He clearly wasn't scary at all. When we first meet him, he's this wide-eyed geek who doesn't have a clue about anything. By the end, he still doesn't have a clue about anything, except this time he's hanging with the "cool kids". We saw no development between beginning and end to suggest that he was anything more than an average scarer with an above-average advantage. Unlike Mike and Sulley, however, who we saw grow and change and by the end we were affirmed that they didn't need a degree to let them (or anyone else for that matter) know that they were scary.

 

So, I don't feel cheated by the ending. Mike and Sulley had nothing to gain at the end of the movie because they had "it"; they had this undefinable thing about them that proved that they were scary, which wouldn't have happened if they didn't go to school. They took the time to perfect their craft; they just took a shorter amount of time than everyone else because they had the power of best friendship.

 

I think I think this because I can relate to it since scaring is an art, but I don't know.

[Macseed]

I love this movie. It blew my expectations considering how mediocre Brave was. Just one problem: Most of the people seriously feel like they are in the movie only to say, "You suck. You'll never make it. And since this is a Disney/Pixar movie, the bad guys will walk away accomplishing a lot and the good guys will have achieved nothing."