Monsters University (2013)

Perhaps no film studio in the modern era has a better track record of success than Pixar, whose every effort has struck box office gold while almost always managing to please not only fans but critics alike. Now fully absorbed into the Disney company (who, like some sort of planet is sucking in things as big as Marvel comics with its gravitational pull), Pixar is made to suffer through conflicting mojos with its parent company, whose track record of sequels is notoriously weak, especially in the animated department, where most sequels have been straight-to-home-video affairs. (Quick, name me your favorite song from "Return of Jafar"! Didn't think you could...)

In the Pixar oeurve, 2011's "Cars 2" is widely regarded as the company's weakest release artistically, a naked ploy for toy tie-ins so obvious that we shouldn't be remotely shocked that a third film - this time using planes - is headed to theatres. Not all sequels, of course, have been missteps for the studio, as the Toy Story franchise followed its landmark opening entry with a strong sequel and even a third film, which I would argue was far and away the best of that series.

So why another "Monsters Inc." film?

Okay, stupid question. This is Disney we're talking about. But in an attempt at something fresh, instead of getting a follow-up to the 2001 film, we get a prequel, "Monsters University." The result, however, is sadly far from fresh. Audiences will enjoy spending another 90 minutes with the likes of the furry blue Sully and the wisecracking green orb with stick apendages, Mike Wazowski, and yes, John Goodman and Billy Crystal both return to authenticate them. But disappointingly, "Monsters University" is paint-by-numbers theft from films ranging from the Harry Potter series to, well, "Animal House."

As an impressionable young whatever-he-is, Mike experiences the scare floor where famous monsters working for the Monsters, Inc. power company work their magic. He dreams of one day joining their ranks but finds, instead, that he is funny, rather than scary. Of course, once this idea is established, the film immediately suffers, as viewers of the first film will understand instantly where this film must be headed.

Mike manages to gain entry to Monsters University, where he's forced to join the loser-est fraternity on campus (the hilariously named Oozma Kappa) and room with a guy who is nothing like him. That guy, naturally, is Sully, a second generation scarer-in-training who plans to ride through college on charm and pedigree and has no intentions of actually doing work. And, in another well-tread plot development, the two strongly dislike each other. Again, if you've seen "Monsters, Inc.," you understand that they have to be friends by the end of this film!

So early into "Monsters University," the audience already knows that humor will compete with fear for talent and that Mike and Sully will become the best of friends. The perils of the prequel, I suppose. The bulk of the film then focuses on the challenge of the wayward frat to compete against more robust organizations in the Scare Games (insert Harry Potter or Hunger Games without the killing), an annual campus event overseen by the Voldemort-meets-the-Dragon-that-got-trained-in-that-superior-but-not-Disney-film, Dean Hardscrabble (played deliciously with dripping disdain by Helen Mirren). Oozma Kappa is challenged with winning the tournament to avoid explulsion from Monsters University for both Mike and Sully. And, again, exit dramatic tension, as of course they will and must win.

Little that happens in "Monsters University" surprises, and some of the film's best lines are sadly looped in television promotions, which is a problem for most movies but rarely a Pixar one. So the only delights and surprises, then, come via the introduction of new characters to the Monsters franchise. Forturnately, a few of them are quite entertaining and memorable. I am partial to two in particular. One is a furry purple U-shaped thing named Art. Slyly voiced by Charlie Day, he gets the film's funniest line (one for the grown-ups, at that), and his physical efforts during the final challenge of the Scare Games are a visual riot. The other pure pleasure is the mother of frat brother Squishy. Ms. Squibbles, voiced by Julia Sweeney, is like an animated Edie McClurg (my fellow 80s TV and film lovers know who I'm talking about), and she gets some of the film's funniest and most unexpected bits.

I have to be hard on "Monsters University," because when compared to some of Pixar's other efforts - particularly "Wall-E," "Up" and "Ratatouille"), this film feels purely disposable, designed for little more than a firm grab for a few hours of kids' attention, aspiring for none of the sweeping human storytelling and transcendent themes of other films in the studio's canon. "Monsters University" looks fantastic, as one would expect. It is occassionally funny (my kids thought it was more than just occassionally funny). And animated films can and usually do fare far worse ("Hotel Transylvania," anyone?).

But let's face it, "Monsters University" is purely average in virtually every way possible. It feels like a tossed-off effort (though a better one than "Cars 2"). It adds breadth to the Monsters universe but no depth. It lacks the genuine passion and emotion of other films from Pixar. And the sum of all of this is that we're left with a solid summer animated entertainment from a studio famous for so much more. Taken in isolation, "Monsters University" is fine. As a piece of a larger history, it's disappointing.

★ ★