PLOT:
Monstropolis is a world created by monsters. The creatures that live there power their city by collecting the screams of the one thing that scares them… children. But when a little girl named Boo accidentally finds herself in their factory, the world they’ve created is thrown into monster sized trouble.
REVIEW:
Throughout the years, Pixar has made some of the best animated films of all time. With emphasis on story, they are able to give audiences characters that are beautifully fleshed out and sympathetic. With UP, WALL-E , TOY STORY and so many more that are personal favorites, the one that I’d hadn’t seen in its entirety is MONSTERS INC. This issue was rectified this past Saturday when I caught a screening of the film with a fresh coat of 3D, ready to charm audiences once again. Did it work? The movie… absolutely! The 3D… Not so much.
This story of two monsters that help fuel the Monstropolis by collecting children’s screams once again reminds us of the quality that Pixar is known for. Mike and Sulley (voiced by Billy Crystal and John Goodman) are the best at what they do. They work in a monster factory where every single child’s closet door is accessible. When the doors are opened, they do some scaring and collect the scream which produces energy for their town. The problem however, you must not get too close to the child because even the things that go bump in the night are afraid of the unknown – this case being the very thing they are assigned to scare… the monsters fear the kids. But when a little girl named Boo (Mary Gibbs) makes her way into the monsters world, everything Mike and Sulley believed in suddenly comes to a screeching halt.
In this world there is an evil villain with dastardly plans. He is a creature named Randall Boggs (voiced by Steve Buscemi) who is able to blend and disappear out of sight. And of course, there are the two lead characters that must grow and realize that there are things bigger than the world they know. This realization of course comes from their growing fondness for the little girl Boo who apparently thinks the monstrous Sulley is a ‘kitty.’ While the little girl can express emotions, she is basically a toddler that relies on adorable little sounds to express her fear and happiness. Pixar really has the uncanny ability to allow their characters to speak volumes without saying a word.
With the infectiously sweet relationship between Boo and Sulley, this is of course the story of two friends. It is hard not to be taken in by Mike and Sulley, especially since Goodman and Crystal make such a likable pair. As far as the rest of the characters, even if they aren’t terribly memorable, they support the story well enough. However when it comes to the inevitable chase where the film’s heroes try to protect Boo, the stakes don’t seem quite so high because of this.
Within the monster world, it did feel as though they could have gone a little farther. I did find that the “monster factory” setting seemed a bit limiting. Even though they did play with the idea of where all those doors lead to in a fun way, they could have gone much farther with the idea. As a movie fan, I did enjoy what appeared to be an INDIANA JONES homage by using the many closet doors transported throughout their world for a fairly exciting chase sequence.
Considering technology has improved vastly since MONSTERS, INC. and its 2001 release, it is impressive how wonderfully the film holds up. With that, the 3D element was underwhelming. This added absolutely nothing to the film. Even with the opening credits when they really try to show off the technology, there was nothing special about it here. Out of all the 3D conversion I’ve seen, this was one of the least impressive. Yet either way it is still a terrific movie that is worth checking out if you haven’t had the chance to see it in the theatre… but you can easily skip the added glasses charge.