'Allo! I'm not contributing to Ciao for the time being but if you are bored / desperate / weird enou...
'Allo! I'm not contributing to Ciao for the time being but if you are bored / desperate / weird enough to wish to continue to read my ramblings, you can find me on Dooyoo under the user name plipplop. See you around! :P
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I am not a fan of family or children’s movies. I see these films as a sanitised crop of sickly, sweet loveliness, where everyone loves one another and nobody ever gets shot. Nonetheless, ever so often, a film comes along that does capture my interest and for many, many months now I’ve been looking forward to the DVD release of Monsters Inc. I would even have gone to the cinema to see this, had it not been for the fact that I would have had to share my air space with hordes of revolting offspring, so my anticipation of its home video release was so feverish that I actually reserved a copy. How fortunate it was, therefore, that the movie surpassed my expectations and provided a couple of hours of sheer, unadulterated enjoyment.
Monsters Inc is the merry tale of two best friends, who live in the parallel world of Monstropolis. Mike is a short, round, green, one-eyed monster, with a smart mouth and an adoring girlfriend. Sully (Mike’s best friend) is an enormous, blue, furry monster, with a heart of gold. Together, the two friends work as a team in the huge Monsters Inc factory, where they earn a living generating power for the city dwellers of Monstropolis. The monsters that dwell in Monstropolis live a very normal existence, except for one thing – they rely on the screams of human children to power their city. Every day, within the huge confines of the Monsters Inc factory, teams of monsters open up magical doorways into the bedrooms of small children, where they proceed to scare them witless and then collect the power of their screams in special yellow canisters. It all sounds rather sinister, but of course, there is nothing really scary about most of the monsters,
many of which have to put in their false teeth before they enter the children’s rooms.
Over the years, scaring children has proven to be a very successful enterprise and has kept Monstropolis in plentiful supplies of energy. The scarers maintain a league table of who has scared the most children, and Sully is currently the reigning champion. The monsters’ only fear is of the children themselves, whom they believe to be highly dangerous, should they come into physical contact. Indeed the whole city is policed by the CDS (Child Detective Agency), who scour the streets responding to calls for decontamination from children.
All is not well in the Monsters Inc factory. As modern children become more and more difficult to frighten, supplies of energy are becoming harder to come by and the manager of Monsters Inc (Waternose) despairs for the future of the plant. With competition for the leader board stiffer than ever, one of the monsters (Randall) has started cheating to accelerate his position. Unbeknown to the others, Randall is working late every night, opening up the doorways and scaring more and more children. When Sully stumbles across a door late one night in the factory, he peers inside to see what’s going on. Blissfully unaware of his small, human cargo, he unwittingly releases a playful girl into the factory. With the wrath of the CDA on his tail, as well as the ever more sinister Randall, Sully turns to his friend Mike to help him return the little girl back to her world. But other players in the factory have a rather more unpleasant use for her……
Monsters Inc is a truly wonderful concoction of dialogue, imagination and stunning animation, which will certainly appeal to all age groups. The film has enough fun and colour to keep children entertained, but also has sly humour and clever touches to keep the adults glued to their seats too. I haven’t enjoyed a film this much for quite some time.
Following the hugely successful Toy Story movies, Pixar have once again produced a technically brilliant film. The quality of the animation is outstanding, quite unlike anything I have ever seen before, and I think it was the attention to detail that I found so impressive. This is one of those films that you do need to watch more than once to take in all the little details. From Sully’s beautiful furry coat, to the amorphous skin movements of the giant slug receptionist, this is an exercise in detail. The monsters are just wonderful – a vast array of shapes, sizes and colours, with slimy monsters, tentacled monsters, furry monsters and so much more. Mike (Billy Crystal) and Sully (John Goodman) are so very different, but complement one another completely, and they each have very different strengths. Sully’s most endearing features are probably his lovely soft, blue fur and his big eyes. Mike’s appeal is undoubtedly that of his huge eye, which manages to show an enormous range of expressions and his fanged mouth, for much the same reason. Despite the fact that the pair are monsters, they are incredibly cute. In contrast to these two, the bad guy, Randall (Steve Buscemi), is suitably menacing, with his darting, slithering body and his ability to become invisible. I could watch the film again, simply to have a look at all the different monsters again.
The attention to detail is not only visual – this is an aurally entertaining film just as much, although fortunately, the makers resisted the temptation to turn this into a musical. The opening music is very catchy and quirky and captures the tone of the whole film. Throughout the movie, there are all sorts of little noises, which add to the atmosphere and sense of fun. I loved the slapping, pattering noise of Mike’s feet as he ran across the floor. I also loved the childish giggles and chattering of Boo, the little girl and the swishing noise of Randall as he slithered across the floor. The beauty of animation is that you can let your imagination run riot – Monsters Inc not only does this, but it also combines it with realistic, thoughtful touches.
As a family movie, Monsters Inc also spares us from much of the emotional baggage of a conventional film, and instead concentrates on keeping us entertained. The fun and action is virtually relentless from the outset, and the world of Monstropolis is such a captivating place that the running time just flies past. The climax to the film involves a relentless chase through the factory aboard a high-speed machine, which carries the doors in and out of the children’s rooms. As the monsters dive in and out of different doors and worlds, the pace is breathless and it really is exciting. The film even has a bit of a twist, where certain individuals turn out to be somewhat removed from what you might think.
The greatest appeal of this film has to be its ability to make you laugh. Mike and Sully are both fantastic characters, and I’d find myself sniggering just because of an expression or a look. I loved Mike’s grumpy nature and his almost nasal voice really goes with his character. I have absolutely no doubt that Sully and Mike will go on to have a sequel, or a series of their own. The pairing is very strong and after this film, you find yourself wanting more. Much to my surprise, I even found the little girl very funny – when Randall is eventually sorted out, Boo sneaks in a little raspberry at his expense. Not a huge moment in comedy history, but a good example of the gentle, playful humour at play in this film.
I honestly cannot think of a single criticism of this movie. I thought that Monsters Inc was hugely superior to Toy Story 1 and 2, with a more likeable range of characters and much more imagination. I loved this movie (can you tell?) and will certainly be watching it again – and again.
Highly recommended
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If you haven't seen this yet, then there may well be something wrong with you. It is far better (in every sense) than Toy Story 1 and 2. -Everytime I read a film review, I want to go and watch it, and never actually do. But I Am Now! -Lewis
Lizard_Lover 04.03.2004 01:34
I adored this film. In fact, I took three kids to see it and embarrassed them by blubbing in the cinema :O)
rameezs8 04.10.2003 14:55
Yes I definately agree with you, I am not a fan of kids' movies' but this film has it all, comedy, emotion and superb graphics. It is very touching and can be very comical. I have to agree with you in every way. Rameez
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]")
Sep 10th, 2002
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