Monsters, Inc.
Directed by Pete Doctor; Co-directed by David Silverman and Lee Unkrich
Starring the voices of Billy Crystal, John Goodman, Mary Gibbs, Steve Buscemi, James Coburn, and Jennifer Tilly.
I’ve grown to be a big fan of computer animation. And, since Pixar made the first computer animated film, Toy Story, they are always looked upon as the industry leaders. They are the ones who continuously raise the bar and set new standards. They make the films that both adults and kids can laugh at. Riding of the high that was their last film, Toy Story 2, we all knew their next film was going to be great. And so, here we are, with their latest in theaters, Monsters, Inc.
As we all know, monsters live inside of closets and scare little kids as they sleep. But, there’s good reason to that. For you see, children’s screams are what powers the monster world. When we first arrive in the monster’s city of Monstropolis, we find that they are currently in the midst of an energy crisis. Thanks to the growing desensitization of kids, they just aren’t as easy to scare as they once were. But that hasn’t slowed down Sully and Mike of Monsters, Inc. Sully (voice of Goodman) is the top scarer at Monsters, Inc., and can be counted on to get the screams night after night. Mike (voice of Crystal) is his best friend and assistant, and they are an unstoppable team. Of course, this incurrs the wrath of the chameleon-like monster Randall (voice of Buscemi), who seeks to become the new top scarer. But, all this changes when Sully discovers that Randall was putting in some overtime one night. For you see, monsters also believe that children are toxic. When one of these monsters accidentally brings back a child’s possession, all kinds of monsters in detox suits come in to destroy the offending object. So, you can imagine what happens when Sully discovers that Randall has accidentally brought back a child. Some how, Sully and the child, whom he names Boo (voice of Gibbs) manage to bond, and Sully starts to think that maybe children aren’t so bad after all. So, enlisting the aid of Mike, the quest is soon on to get Boo home. Will our heroes succeed? Will they find out exactly what Randall was doing after hours? And will they discover a new energy source even more potent than screams?
I like Pixar. They know how to do sweet without piling on the sugar, and this is just one sweet movie. The animation, as always, is spectacular, as are the voice performances. Crystal and Goodman really have a good chemistry together. It also helped that Boo reminded me a lot of my niece. This film doesn’t have the same number of “Woah, cool!” moments that were in Toy Story 2, but it’s still above average as most animated films go. And I must really be starting to turn into a Pixar geek, as I pretty much got all of the little references to their past films. Anyway, this film is just good stuff. You should go see it.
Oh, and I forgot to mention. Like most Pixar films, this one begins with a Pixar short called For The Birds, about some snotty birds sitting on a telephone wire. It’s good, too!