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Member since:08.03.2001
Reviews:254
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***Further update***
As you will read from my review, this movie has way too much in common with other, far superior kids flicks. Now I have EVEN MORE evidence of this! Check out http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/film/2477593.stm
The mind boggles...
***Other update***
So much more to hate Disney/Pixar for! Not only do they punish my sensibilities with this piece of half-thought-out dross, but they’ve gone all legal and big-wig like. Check out www.exluna.com/news/releases/release020304.html and say it with me one time – DISNEY SUCKS!
***Updates end***
THE REVIEW
To quote Sylvia Plath (yes I do more than watch movies) – “somebody’s done for”. That somebody should be the person who decided to let someone other than John Lasseter take the reigns of this latest Pixar/Disney outing. Toy Story was a great outing based on an intriguing premise. Then came A Bug’s Life, which delved into the world of insects in a more entertaining way than the rival Dreamworks feature Antz. Now, with two monster-related CGI efforts out there – this and Shrek, it seems to me that Pixar’s fire has been dampened by the big green fella. He probably urinated on it or something.
***YER BASIC PLOT*** Through every closet door is a (temporary) entrance to another world, populated entirely by monsters. We know they’re there because they pop through into the human world every night to scare children. The purpose of this thankless task? To bottle the screams of the world’s children - to be used as a fuel for the monster’s electricity. The entire operation is carried out by the staff of Monsters, Inc. – and it’s here that our heroes Mike and Sully (played by Billy Crystal and John Goodman respectively) work. Sully is the company’s top “scarer”, and Mike is his assistant, staying on the monster side to loadin/unloading scream canisters. Deeply jealous of their unbeaten scream record is Randall (Steve Buscemi), a cool chameleonic lizard-monster, who has a plan to beat the heroes to the top spot. This plan goes sour when a “toxic” young girl sneaks into the monster world, and Mike & Sully must try to get her back home, without attracting the attention of the “CDA” (Child Detection Agency) who may just incinerate her… * * * * *
Whilst many reviews have praised this movie for breaking ground, as I walked away from the cinema,
there was a phrase that kept running through my brain, which I’d like to share with you now: “Something old, something new, something borrowed, something blue”. What relevance does this wedding-related superstition have to do with this digital doo-hickey? Glad you asked…
***SOMETHING OLD*** Pixar deserve some credit for introducing some interesting notions into the world of cartoons. Thing is, I think they blew their wad on the RC-car chase in Toy Story, and the terrific, rain drenched chase in A Bugs Life. The chase now seems to be the standard ending for Pixar movies - they must have another idea in their pixel-oriented minds! Then there were the obligatory out-takes. At the end of “A Bug’s Life”, they were entertaining. Toy Story 2 pushed it a little bit. Now, as I watched the virtual camera fall over, characters fluffing their lines, and references to Toy Story crawl past, I just thought “so what?”
I’ve said it before (ha ha), repetition is the killer of the soul.
For tech-freaks making their undies sticky at the thought of Sully’s (admittedly impressive) CGI hair, let’s not forget that Pixar did THE SAME THING for the hair on the dog in Toy Story 2. More of the same? Yep, only it’s a different colour. I spent more time watching the fur move than I did being impressed by the characterisation. Lastly, there are the in-jokes, tons of them from the lame (the swankiest restaurant in town is “Harryhausen’s”) to the quite good (a sign at a café offers espressos and diesel – geddit?). Mostly, this smacks of “must try harder”, surely there’s something cleverer than having the same punchline to two different jokes being used within the space of 5 minutes (two monsters mumble their discontent after doing something dumb on the street – better editing needed!).
Oh, and if you were wondering whether ex-Cheers star John Ratzenberg has a part like in all the other Pixar movies, you’ll be glad to know he’s the voice of the abominable snowman. Woo-hoo.
***SOMETHING NEW*** Well, Pixar haven’t quite expended all their creative juices yet, no matter how much wad-blowing is evident. Randall is a superb villain, his colour-changing tendencies being more impressive when he turns “invisible”, but this is ultimately frustrating. During the “climactic” chase scene, he should surely have used this power *all the time* in order to win the day… but no. Also new is the bonus scene, after the sappy out-takes, which manages to out-funny the whole movie with the opening night of a monstrous musical… Thirdly and most welcome is the lack of Randy Newman’s warblings – almost. Newman has penned another saccharine ditty, but John Goodman and Billy Crystal get to perform it, so at least we’re spared the King of Averagetown spewing his vocal detritus all over our listen-holes.
***SOMETHING BORROWED***
Where to begin?
The title sequence seems like a Fritz Freleng sequence with its art-deco trappings. It’s cool, but I just thought it was a little “done”. There’s the whole “monsters aren’t scary after all” theme, covered much better in Maurice Senak’s “Where The Wild Things Are”. The monsters encroach into the world of humans – just like in “The Nightmare Before Christmas”. There’s the realisation that fun can be better than scaring – JUST LIKE IN “THE NIGHTMARE BEFORE CHRISTMAS”. The denouement smacks of both Wallace & Gromit in “A Close Shave” (a high speed chase along tracks) and “Being John Malkovich” (a chase through doorways into lots of odd places). There’s a purported shot-for-shot homage to a Chuck Jones cartoon. Obligatory mentions of Toy Story (both in the out-takes and during one of Sully’s visits to the human world – he is given a Jessie doll to which he says “oh, that’s cute!”). The lead character is an unsympathetic big guy who’s not as scary as all that (just like Shrek) who has a wisecracking buddy that steals the show – JUST LIKE SHREK. Whilst watching the trailers, I saw one for the forthcoming Fox CGI effort “Ice Age”. There’s a scene where snowballs are thrown at someone’s back. The same thing happens here – deliberate? You decide. I think - yes.
***SOMETHING BLUE***
It certainly wouldn’t have hurt to put in a few more gags for those taking ankle-biters to the movies. After seeing the sophisticated (kinda) multi-level jokery in Shrek, this left me colder than a tub of Haagen Daas. In space. With bad circulation. The character of Sulley isn’t the most well developed I’ve seen – he’s just a big lug with a soft spot for “Boo” (the name he gives the kid who gets into Monstropolis City) and likes going to work. Mike is similarly two-dimensional (ha ha), just a one eyed gag-spewer (hmm…) who never files his paperwork and is in love with a snake-haired receptionist (voiced by Jennifer Tilly – in it for the money, obviously). And that’s it! We’re meant to like these guys! BUT WHY? The dense characterisation of even the smallest character, like in A Bugs Life, is also noticeable by its absence.
It’s quite sad to see that Pixar is becoming as stale and corporate as Disney, maybe Uncle Walt has rubbed off on them too much (well, you know what he was like…). Still, this is a movie all about a big corporation facing closure, which could have been a delicious opportunity for some clever digs at their employer’s expense. Especially as Disney are running out of steam ideas-wise – their latest two offerings were advertised before the main feature – Cinderella 2 (which looks like it was drawn by the same people responsible for the original WHO ARE ALL NOW SENILE AND/OR DEAD) and… Peter Pan in Return To Neverland, a gut-wrenching expedition back to the land where kids never grow old, but for some reason featuring a flying CGI pirate ship and an octopus instead of the crocodile. *Nnf nff* I smell desperation…
I was sorely disappointed by this movie (could ya tell?). I’d sensed a loss of direction when Pixar sh*t out Toy Story 2, but I’m never one to dismiss something TOO readily before experiencing it myself. Well, except for wiping my a$$ with a swordfish… never again. I’m afraid I have to dismiss this just as readily, but a tad less painfully. Dreamworks’ Shrek has, for me, snatched the crown from Disney’s cryogenically frozen head. It remains to be seen whether this will be the saviour of Disney’s stale output, but for me this was a sterile, dull tale. There were a few good gags, but never as laugh-out-loud funny as the previous efforts. Even the rest of the audience seemed unimpressed by the hi-jinks - well, low-jinks.
The key to the other Pixar hits was RELATABILITY. How can you relate to a monster that thinks kids are cute? This was a step too far for the Pixar boys, and with all the exposition summed up within the first 3 minutes, there is little room for development. Why should we care about the best workers in a power plant? If anything, I was rooting for the bad guy, at least he had MOTIVATION and PERSONALITY. The original concept was for Sully to be a bit of a nerd. Pixar honchos thought this would make him unsympathetic. This is why? The lead character in A Bug’s Life was a misfit. Buzz Lightyear was a misfit. They’ve stuck with so much else from the “stick with what you know” workshop, why not go the whole sticky hog? IN FACT, why not just release Toy Story 3 if you REALLY want a cash cow with as much soul as three pieces of burned bracken and a tuna fish’s migraine?
Don’t believe the hype. Don’t eat the crappy Nestle “Bursting Mike’s Eyes” (they taste rank, not even warranting a full review, sorry!). And DON’T waste time seeing this at the cinema, wait until video. Cheaper. *Fast-forwardable*. Plus, you can neck a few shots of Jameson whiskey to make the whole non-experience a tad more palatable. You may also want to ignore the lacklustre tie in with MuckDonalds and the huge range of Nestle cereals and desserts. And the crappy Playstation 2 game, not to mention the Powergen tie-tin (clever), and the washing powder tie-in, and the Fairly liquid tie-in… Disney have their dirty little fingers in lots of dirty little pies, don’t they now?
www.monstersinc.com - advert-laden official website.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ Main cast:
James Sullivan – John Goodman Mike Wazowski – Billy Crystal Randall – Steve Buscemi Mr Waternoose – James Coburn Boo – Mary Gibbs (the daughter of one of the Pixar honchos) Celia – Jennifer Tilly
“Directed” by Peter Docter, David Silverman and Lee Unkrich (too many cooks perchance?) “Written” by Dan Gerson and Andrew Stanton
Rated U because it could not offend ANYONE and is more sterile than a nuclear plant employee with a hole in the crotch of his safety suit who lives IN an electricity pylon and has a pregnant sheep repeatedly head-butt him in the balls every night in the vain hope that the lanolin from its fleece will permeate his pubic hair and somehow improve its condition. AND NO I DID NOT LIKE THIS MOVIE!
+++UPDATED NAUGHTY INFORMATION - go to http://www.badmovies.org/movies/rrnightmare/rrnightmare5.jpg for a picture that looks disturbingly like Mike... or is it just me? +++
How helpful would this review be to a person making a buying decision? Rating guidelines
The monsters inMonsters, Inc.are just so incredibly cute--and they know it. Whereas Woody, ... more
Buzz and pals in theToy Storysaga were filled with self-doubt about just how much the children in their lives would continue to love them, here our heroic monste...
Postage & Packaging: £1.21 Availability: Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days...
The monsters inMonsters, Inc.are just so incredibly cute--and they know it. Whereas Woody, ... more
Buzz and pals in theToy Storysaga were filled with self-doubt about just how much the children in their lives would continue to love them, here our heroic monste...
Postage & Packaging: free Super Saver Delivery Availability: Usually dispatched within 24 hours...
Monsters Inc. is the largest scare factory in the monster world and the top Kid-Scarer is ... more
James P. Sullivan (John Goodman) a huge intimidating monster with blue fur large purple spots and horns known as "Sulley" to his friends. His Scare Assistant...
Postage & Packaging: £0.00 Availability: 3-5 working days
Advantages: Everybody likes monsters inc, whether your an oap or a toddler it is suitable for the whole family. This film has alot of funny moments and has hidden jokes in for the older audience. Disadvantages: This film can drag on a little and it is east to predict what is going to happen next.
k8tybaby 21.10.2005 ·
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: somewhat helpful
Review of Monsters, Inc. (DVD)
![Monsters Inc. [2002] [DVD]](http://picnica.ciao.com/uk/78540564.jpg "Monsters Inc. [2002] [DVD]")
Feb 11th, 2002
(Nov 16th, 2002)
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