So, I just finished watching "Monsters University". I had seen it in Walmart for about $20 and did not think it worth that much money to see. But, when I chanced upon it in a Redbox, I couldn't really turn it down. (Hey, $1.20? Sure!)
So, my thoughts? I have not seen the first film start to finish. I saw enough however to understand basically what had happened in the film. So, I consider myself to be knowledgeable enough to know what the characters were (I did, for example, recognize the villain of the first film and what they did with him).
The movie is about Mike going to college and meeting Sully (spelling?). That much I knew from the promos. And I have to give those promos credit -- I did not see this story coming.
BTW, Major Spoiler alert!
We actually start prior to Mike being at good old MU, and we see him on a field trip with his class to Monsters Inc. In this visit, he is inspired to become a scarier. It is then that we see him enroll (years later) at Monsters University into the "Scare Program". Through this program, he does run into Sully, and the two have a conflicting relationship at first, which you do expect from this film, seeing as they were friends in the first film.The two of them end up being kicked out of the scaring program -- Mike is told he is simply not scary at all, and Sully is considered to be to reckless and cocky.
The two join the "Scare Contest" (I may have the name wrong) and bet with the dean (who admittedly is a really scary character in this film without doing much of anything. Great design and acting) that if they win this contest, they will be re-admitted into the scare program. This results in them joining a low end fraternity called Oozma Kappa (O.K. for short), which is a small group of completely non-scary characters (I smell an underdog story...). I have to give credit, the jokes made about this group are hysterical (the frat house actually belonging to one of the member's moms is a laugh riot!).
So, the group has to do a series of events in elimination format until only one fraternity/sorority remains. They barely win the first one (dodging toxic items), and it is then that the movie becomes a standard underdog story. After Mike shows them a glimpse of Monsters Inc, Mike trains the team hard by showing them how to scare and training hard for the events -- such events include moving quietly through a space, scaring only children (not teens), and hiding successfully.
The final event, which involves "Real Life Scares", is the classic final scene of any 80s movie -- the underdogs will pull through...but how? They are up against the frat house jerks that are standard for such films, and, they aren't really interesting (though they do a fairly clever hazing of the group that I will not spoil). The team does pull through (big shock), with Mike pulling off an amazing scare at the end (and it does look impressive (Sully's prep talk before giving him the extra boost he needed).
As it turns out, Sully wrecked the scare sensitivity meter on the bed (he had gone before Mike), so that his scare would be phenomenal. Mike is appalled at this (and, I admit, the movie fooled me into thining it was the end of the film), and goes off the sulk.
Sully admits what he did to the dean, and he is expelled, while Mike goes off to the "Door Creation" facility to find a real child to prove to himself that he is scary. This final end sequence results in Sully chasing after Mike through the door, Mike finding out that children are not frightened of his, Sully performing an amazing scare on some adult men, and them both being expelled. (these sequences are actually quite good. I apologize if I'm simplifying it too much).
There is one final part of the film. Mike and Sully have been kicked out of MU. Mike sees an ad from earlier in the film about how they could work at the mail room of Monsters Inc, and we see a montage of them have a grand old time working at the mailroom, and then photographs of them moving up int eh company until they finally are Scarers like they dreamed of being.
I have to say that end felt very unsatisfying. I can understand that they want to show how you can get to your dreamed in different ways, but this felt very rushed. I almost feel we needed another part to the film or a whole new film to tell that story that they cram into the last 5 minutes.
Otherwise, this was enjoyable. I recommend it. 4 out of 5 stars.
No comments:
Post a Comment