Review of 'Monsters, Inc.'
The monsters that live in children's closets are real. Children's screams are harvested and used to power the world where the monsters live. Every night teams of monsters are assigned doors to travel through into children's bedrooms to do their scaring. They all live in terror of only one thing: The children they are scaring who they consider extremely toxic. In Monsters, Inc we meet two of these monsters, walking eyeball Mike (voiced by Billy Crystal) and master scarer, a giant furred monster, Sullivan (voiced by John Goodman) who are one of the scare teams striving to be top of the “scare board”. One evening Sullivan travels through a door only to have a small girl (voiced by Mary Gibbs) terrifyingly follow him back. The delightful child manages to convince the two she is harmless and they nick-name her “Boo” but now there is the problem of having to return her to her bedroom without getting caught all the while attempting to avoid the evil reptile-like Randall (Steve Buscemi) who is determined to be top of the scare board…
A fun and enjoyable film from Pixar that manages, as only the best animation does, to entertain young and old alike. The animation here is top rate and looks fantastic with the passion and love of the film-makers very apparent. The whit involved in the story, settings, dialogue and characters is truly amazing along with the care and attention to detail. The story is a bit thin on the ground but serviceable here though it is the characters that are the main thing with Crystal as Mike offering hilarious scene after hilarious scene (much of it improvised by the actor during recording). Goodman as Sullivan is the soul of the film as he grows to love the innocent child he has accidentally brought into the monster world. Goodman is able to portray not only great sensitivity but also a good amount of fun and humour in this slightly more serious role. The supporting cast are icing on the cake such as the steely (slug) controller Roz (voiced by Bob Peterson) and head of Monster's Inc the walking octopus-like creature Mr. Waternoose (voiced by James Coburn) who just wants to keep the factory running…
After the frenetic first half the plot does somewhat slow down before the finale but it still manages to be entertaining throughout. A fun and imaginative animation romp that has a heart that will entertain everyone. Be sure to stick around for the “outtakes” during the credits…
Rating: “I have absolutely no complaints”
Review Date: 2019-10-26
Directed by: Pete Docter, David Silverman and Lee Unkrich
Studio: Pixar Animation Studios
Year: 2001
Length: 92 minutes
Genre: Animation
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0198781/
Other reviewed films by Andrew Stanton, Lee Unkrich:
- Finding Nemo (2001)
Other reviewed films by David Silverman:
- The Simpsons Movie (2007)
Other reviewed films by John Lasseter, Ash Brannon and Lee Unkrich:
- Toy Story 2 (1999)
Other reviewed films by Lee Unkrich:
- Toy Story 3 (2010)
Other reviewed films by Lee Unkrich and Adrian Molina:
- Coco (2017)
Other reviewed films by Pete Docter and Kemp Powers:
- Soul (2020)
Other reviewed films by Pete Docter and Ronnie del Carmen:
- Inside Out (2015)