Monsters, Inc. DVD > Reviews > Monsterrific

Author's product rating:   

Did you enjoy it?	Loved it
Story	Outstanding
Characters / Performances	Outstanding
Special Effects	Outstanding
How does it compare to similar films?	Outstanding

Advantages:	Great Family Viewing
Disadvantages:	None

Recommend to potential buyers:

yes

Full review

~ Introduction ~

I watched this film on DVD a couple of weeks back, prompted by reading many raving reviews but still not really knowing what to expect in terms of the quality of this production.

Monsters Inc is a CGI (computer generated imagery) movie, I am not really a great fan of such movies after watching films like Final Fantasy as it seemed to be too false, however this film in my point of view is an absolute master-piece that is put together very well.

Disney partnered with Pixar for this production; they have a number of successes under their belt, including ‘Toy Story I & II’ and ‘A Bugs Life’.

Director: Pete Docter, Lee Unkrich
Length: 95 minutes
Certificate: U

~ Story ~

The story is centred around a parallel world that the monsters live in named ‘Monstropolis’, in particular the ‘Monsters Inc’ factory – the factory actually powers Monstropolis and the power is obtained by the monsters visiting children’s bedrooms by accessing doors that resemble their closets, scaring them and bottling up their screams.

There is however, an energy crisis due to the fact that children are not scared as much as they used to be and with this is mind the CEO Henry J Waternoose (voiced by James Coburn) encourages his workforce to greater productivity by the use of league tables of the top scarers.

Here we are introduced to James P. Sullivan or ‘Sully’ (voiced by John Goodman) and Mike Warzowski (voiced by Billy Crystal). Sully is currently the top monster on the scare front and is set to break the all-time scare record. He does however face some stiff opposition by a particular monster - Randall Boggs (voiced by Steve Buscemi) who appears to be somewhat of a devious character.

One particular evening at clocking-off time, Sully notices that a door has been left on the factory floor and not returned to the store – Sully decides to investigate and enters the doorway to find the room empty. Unknowingly at first, he has let a human girl into Monstropolis (that he later names Boo).

Human children are believed to be toxic to monsters if they actually have physical contact and when he discovers what he has done, a mad panic ensues – here the irony being that the monsters are actually scared of the children. He tries to get Mike to help him in the task of returning the child whilst the feared CDA (Child Detection Agency) are on the case in true task-force fashion.

The story really does evolve here on with lots of action packed scenes, with twists and turns at every corner – Does Sully evade the CDA? Do they manage to return Boo to her bedroom?

You will have to watch the film to see it for yourself – what I will say though is that it becomes totally unpredictable from this point on.

~ Characters / Performances ~

All in all the voices fit the characters very well and with a script to fit. Now a brief overview of each of the main characters in the film:

Sully (John Goodman) – gets the majority of screen time, the gentle giant of a monster who is blue in colour, although he is the top scarer, he is a softy at heart and the un-phased Boo aptly names him Kitty.

Mike (Billy Crystal) – Short green tennis ball type character with stick-like legs and one huge eye, a bit of a wimp really who is portrayed as not being very good at his job, especially the paper-work that sees him getting on the wrong side of Roz. He is also somewhat in love with Celia.

Roz (Bob Peterson III) – The despatch manager who can be best described as a somewhat unattractive creature with a somewhat slug-like body, however there is more to her than meets the eye.

Celia (Jennifer Tilly) – also a one-eyed creature that has a medusa style head with snakes as hair. The secretary, who is dating Mike, but is often let down during the courtship.

CEO Henry J Waternoose (James Coburn) – the CEO of the company who is a crab like creature. He appears to be desperate to save the company in hard times whilst maintaining the power supplies to Monstropolis, however there is also more to him than meets the eye.

Randall Boggs (Steve Buscemi) – a long centipede type creature that has chameleon abilities allowing him to appear to be invisible when he is up to something. The devious competitor for those league table rankings of the scariest monster.

Boo (Mary Gibbs) – sweet little girl. She has hardly any words to say because she hasn’t learned many words yet, the only word I recall her sayings is “Kitty” – apart from this there are many emotions that she has to show such as fear, crying and laughter.

It is somewhat difficult to rate the performances of the actors/actresses due to only their voices being used, however they were all effective in their individual roles.

~ Soundtrack ~

There are a total of 25 tracks played during the movie, each one fits perfectly with the mood of the particular scene. The style of music in the main is Jazz. Randy Newman composed these tracks and the tracks are as follows:

1. If I Didn’t Have You (Billy Crystal & John Goodman)
2. Monsters Inc
3. School
4. Walk To Work
5. Sulley & Mike
6. Randall Appears
7. Enter The Heroes
8. The Scare Floor
9. Oh Celia!
10. Boo’s Adventure In Monstropolis
11. Boo’s Tired
12. Putting Boo Back
13. Boo Escapes
14. Celia’s Mad
15. Boo Is A Cube
16. Mike’s In Trouble
17. The Scream Extraction
18. Sulley Scares Boo
19. Exile
20. Randall’s Attack
21. The Ride Of The Doors
22. Waternoose Is Waiting
23. Boo’s Going Home
24. Kitty
25. If I Didn’t Have You (Randy Newman)

There are many good tracks, but the first track would have to be my favourite, a nice touch that the two main characters are singing it. If you like movie soundtracks and are considering buying this album, Amazon stocks this at £12.99.

~ Summary ~

A thoroughly entertaining film to watch, definitely recommended as family viewing with a number of very funny scenes. The film contained numerous one-lined gags, some aimed at children and some aimed towards the adult viewers that brought a smile to my face.

Unlike many of the films that are geared towards children, the plot was unpredictable and keeps you on the edge of your seat wondering what is going to happen next - a fantasy film that does not go over the top. The story is great and something that the majority of us can relate to as part of our childhood – I have memories of being scared of the curtain monster as a child and often left my curtains open before being able to go to sleep.

Despite being a little skeptical about animated films, I was pleasantly surprised by the sheer quality of the animation, great attention was paid to the detail and you can even see the movement of Sully’s fur, which looks very realistic and typical of the movement of animal fur.

At the end of the film, they have provided some make-believe out-takes which is also very funny, indeed a nice touch to end the film.

As per usual I provide you with a link to the official Monster Inc website that has a flash tour of the facility at Monstropolis - disney.go.com/disneypictures/monstersinc

So all in all a super film that is definitely worthy of my 5 stars – a film that I am going to buy on DVD after seeing it on renal.

Current prices on Amazon are:

Monsters Inc – Wide-screen 2 Disc collector’s edition DVD - £17.99
Monsters Inc – Full-screen (4:3) Single disc edition DVD - £15.99
Monsters Inc – Gift-pack (DVD and Toy) - £19.99