Monsters University is a true underdog story that centres round the one-eyed wonder, Mike Wazowski (Billy Crystal) who’s determined to prove to the rest of the world that he’s got the makings of a Scarer, despite the world telling him otherwise. But whereas Sullivan (John Goodman) has an easier ride, his arrogance costs him dearly. The developing relationship between Mike and Sully remains a centre piece to the film, but as Monsters Inc. focused more on Sully and his misadventures with Boo, Monsters University starts off by focusing on Mike and then his misadventures with Sully.
But as this is a prequel, we already know how our heroes end up and that Mike, despite everything, doesn’t become a Scarer. However this doesn’t detract from the overall enjoyment of the film as what matters is how Mike and Sully eventually become best friends and as you can expect, things don’t start off all rosy. Mike is the student that believes that the key to success lies in his books whereas Sully relies on his famous family name. By setting them at opposite ends of the playing field, we get a lot of heated competition that in turn becomes the main source of its comedy, but I can’t get into details without revealing spoilers.
The style of comedy comes straight over from Monsters Inc. and runs consistently throughout that only ceases when dealing with emotional moments, of which there are some powerful ones. Again, they also take advantage of the fact it is a prequel and provide a lot of parallels to the original film, whether it be the brief encounter of a cameo character or the irony that rivals Mike and Sully eventually become the greatest scaring team. But what’s great about it is the real life comparisons that university students can make with the monster counterpart; the social groups, the stereotypes and the societies. There’s a great scene which is essentially a Fresher’s Fair which will probably have you categorising your friends into the monster world.
Helen Mirren voices the creepy dragon cockroach lady that is Hardscrabble, who maintains a lingering presence throughout the film and doesn’t fail to send shivers up spines when the camera tracks over her cockroach legs. She is the embodiment of fear that even adults would find frightening if confronted with this particular monster and if they tell you otherwise, they’re kidding themselves. What’s surprising though is how the voice of Mirren works so perfectly with the creepy crawly, but the combination of Mirren’s velvety voice and the harshness of the character simply enhances the effect and you’ll feel sorry for every monster that comes into contact with her.
The only real criticism I could possibly make about this movie is Randall (Steve Buscemi). Early on the in the film he is presented with an opposite persona to the Randall we are affiliated with in Monsters Inc. which was clever and effective, even providing a few parallels back to the original. But about halfway through the film, Randall is almost dropped and what could have been an effective development ends up being a rushed, last minute attempt in setting up the rivalry with both Mike and Sully. Having loved Randall in the first film, it just seemed that a lot more could have been done with him and ultimately was a little disappointing.
Overall, Monsters University is a loveable and heart-warming underdog story, but at the same time heart-breaking, as it steers you into a fit of joy before reducing you to tears and silence. Other than its comedy, it’s seems very different from its predecessor but at the same time feeling familiar and therefore has to be judged as a sequel (or rather prequel) that does itself justice.