For some lore on this review series
At this point I should just state when I have already watched a Pixar movie prior to reviewing it because Monster Inc was yet another movie I haven’t see prior. I do have a vague memory of seeing a clip but I didn’t know the plot or much else.
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A Plot for Kids?
Monsters, Inc confounds me but in a good way. First off it’s a very clever concept. Monsters being normal and mundane living a very similar world to the human one, compete with an energy crisis. So it’s both a bright and colorful movie with fun characters and a white-collar thriller with the main characters uncovering a plot lead by the CEO kidnapping and torturing children to solve their society’s every crisis thus saving his company. That’s an intense plot for a movie that aimed for families.
I will say that it’s a little weird if you think about. The Monster society is powered by children’s screams hence why there is an industry around scaring children however kids are not as easy to scare anymore thus an energy crisis. All it would have taken was one weird kid to laugh for a the realization that children’s laugher was more powerful than their screams but then we wouldn’t have had the wacky buddy comedy mixed with a thriller plot.
Also you’re telling me the creatures that have infinite door portals to another dimension couldn’t figure out another source for their power supply? Really? Crossing space? Easy! Lighting? Very Hard!
The more I think about the more Monsters, Inc reminds me of The City of Lost Children. Quite a few parallels between the two titles.
Character Hot Take
While I mostly loved all the characters, except Randall, although I enjoyed his movements and he is a good villain, I do have a big caveat with the main characters.
While Sully and Mike are fun character and very likable, I just see them as extensions of John Goodman and Billy Crystal and not monster characters in a movie with some form of acting behind them. I just see the actor’s persona in the characters. And that was intentional the animators, they did that on purpose. For me personally it just took a little out of the world/movie. I suppose if they were going to based characters on the actors John Goodman and Billy Crystal are not the worst choices.
As for the rest of the characters they are fine. Aside from the villains, it’s really Sully and Mike’s movie. Boo is cute but aside from “cute toddler antics” she doesn’t have much of a character which works for the plot. It is a little weird/odd that Sully never connected the dots that he scares children for a living as is remorseful when he inadvertently scares Boo.
Though her monster disguise is very adorable.
Monsters by Way of Human Form
Tangental to the characters is the character design.I do appreciate the diversity is the design but at the same time if the went that hard on monster design why not the world they inhabit? Like everything else is so standard in form like just a chair or car a human and not a monster. It feels like the world is not for them, which could have been a plot for a different story but just speak to being a half baked on the execution which is disappointing for how imaginative other aspects of this movie come across.
Conclusion
All in all Monsters. INC is a good movie. It does ask a lot of the viewer in terms of not over-thinking on the world-buildings and side from Sully and Mike being too much like their actors they are likable where the villains are quite villainous. Randall is irredeemable and Mr. Waternoose is more about capital and his company which does make him feel like a real world villain despite the fun monster design and bright colors Mr. Waternoose’s motivations feel very real too real.
I also appreciate the name drop of the Loch Ness monster, that my favorite lake monster.
It’s defiantly fun and mostly cute movie though some the humor didn’t land with me like the trash compactor scene but mostly it was amusing and cute.
Did I mention it was cute?
My Current Ranking of Pixar Movies Based on my own Subjective Opinion:
- Toy Story 2
- Toy Story
- Monsters, INC.
- A Bug’s Life (fear not it will not remain at the bottom forever)
