Monsters University (Film Review)

Wali Khan
Wali Khan
Sep 6, 2018 · 4 min read

Released 20 June 2013
Directed by Dan Scanlon
Starring: Billy Crystal, John Goodman, Helen Mirren, Charlie Day, Alfred Molina


Grade: A
(Films are all graded on an F to A+ scale)

When Monsters University was first announced after the groundbreaking but forgettable affair that was Brave, everyone let out a collective sigh. Many feared Monsters University to be another example of Pixar’s artistic bankruptcy — the same bankruptcy that brought us misfires such as Cars 2 and Planes.

Those fears were completely unfounded, however, because Monsters University is a masterclass of comic timing and animation. A movie that doesn’t just tread old, tired ground but rather understands it, kids it and transcends it. The film is never predictable, you may think you know where the plot is headed — and you may be right on occasion, but it won’t arrive in the way you expect it to.

The film’s cold open shows us a young Mike on a school field trip to Monsters Inc.; what happens at the power plant would be something you’d call a character-defining experience, where our one-eyed goblin’s hopes and motivations are laid out in a wonderfully creative way. Mike is an adorable little monster — and that’s just the problem. He is shown to be a diligent student, grinding for every test but what he lacks, as Dean Hardscrabble (played by Helen Mirren in one of the most electric voice acting performances I’ve heard since Jeremy Irons in Lion King) says, is something that cannot be taught.

His counterpart Sulley, on the other hand, is the opposite. He is a blue monster, jupiterian in size and ego, cruising through life on his family name. He is so utterly terrified of the possibility he is not a carbon copy of his legendary monster father who is what Professor Knight referred to as an “amazing scarer”, he makes it a point to show everyone that he is not trying on purpose, failing by choice, so as to make everyone believe that at any point in time, he could pick himself up and become the scariest monster in the world.

The two of them take on a natural hatred towards each one another; each feeling that the other does not belong anywhere near a scare program. Their argument’s stem from the virtues of educational merit and natural talent. But they are identical in the sense that they do not want to be tossed aside into a ‘boring’ course like Scream Can Design 101 (the professor in that course wears a cardigan that isn’t even a color).

The plot of the film is a carefully conceived one, The Scare Games (an annual event held in MU that allows students in all programs to compete) allow for Scanlon to flaunt the world building prowess Pixar directors are known for. In an insanely tense challenge, each fraternity must retrieve a flag at the top of the library and do so without making noise as the librarian is a frightening tentacle monster that could make Cthulhu look like an octopus hatchling. Of course, these games are all high stake, because Mike accepts a wager from Dean Hardscrabble to be let back into the scare program (after a gasp inducing scene) were he to win the Scare Games; and if he were not, he would have to leave Monsters University.

The minor characters are a joy to watch too. The fraternity members of Oozma Kappa (acronymized as OK) are often hilarious. There’s a two-headed creature, one of which (the heads) is a dance major and the other isn’t (five, six, seven —why didn’t you turn?! Because we didn’t agree to do this!). A strange monster whom is just a pair of legs and a face who says such strange things at strange times. I speak of them as they were old friends because they are such richly drawn characters, each with a sense of backstory and hilarious one-liners.

Looming over them is Dean Hardscrabble keeping a watchful eye as if she were God. She cares for the students in a discreet way, never allowing them to sense that she is in fact, acting in their best interest. There’s a touching moment near the end of the film where she lowers herself and tells Mike to keep surprising people.

A lot of the humor is borrowed from the sight gags of David and Jerry Zucker and college films like Animal House. And there are moments in the movie where I shake my head at the irreverence I see on-screen. There is a mischief in the humor and it feels like the writers are getting away with something. For example, there is a scene where Squishy’s mother, a perfectly nice lady is sitting in a van waiting for Squishy and the rest of Oozma Kappa and she tells them that she’ll be “listening to her tunes” while she rolls up her window. And just before it closes, we get a faint blast of Thrash Metal coming from the car speakers.

Monsters University is a lot of things but above all, it is a wise film. When was the last time you watched a movie about a school that didn’t show the institution to be a couple places below the Stasi in terms of malevolence? It doesn’t tell us that everyone can achieve their dreams; no, Monsters University is not the type of movie that insults your intelligence, instead it tells us that we can use what sets us apart from others (no matter how green, short or stumpy we are) to our advantage and be something else entirely. It preaches this universal truth, and for that, it deserves to eventually graduate (with honors) into the same league as other Pixar classics like The Incredibles and Ratatouille.

Monsters University is a fantastic journey into not just the land of monsters, but into ourselves.

As for Pixar, keep surprising people.

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