Review of Monsters, Inc. (2001) by Victor T — 15 Jun 2015

By the beginning of the new millennium, Pixar had already surprised audiences with their creative and fun worlds, first toys and then bugs. So what could be a worthy follow-up? The answer is simply and insanely creative: Monsters that scare children for a living.

Set in the fictitious town of "Monstropolis", we follow a couple of monsters, James P Sullivan (a big blue bear like creature) and Mike Wazowski (a monster that's basically a green eyeball with arms and legs), workers of Monsters Inc., a company that's dedicated to scare human kids in order to produce energy.

I´ll be completely honest, this is the Pixar film that leave the biggest mark in my childhood due to its funny characters, peculiar and colorful world, the clever concept, and the comedy; so I always consider it the best Pixar film and a childhood favorite, but after watching it with a different perspective, I have to say that I isn't as good as I remembered it. "Monster´s Inc." counts with an ingenious and clever concept, jaw dropping animation (just look at Sullivan´s hair!), creative and memorable character designs, comedy that may be a little too childish but it will still get some laughs, "Monstropolis" is a world filled with imagination, some characters are memorable due to their dialog, the voice acting is top notch, the chemistry between our two leads (both the characters and their respective voice actors) is outstanding, the entertaining value is incredibly high, it has that Pixar trademark of giving their films the right amount of sentiment, the them is executed in a solid way, and it is enjoyable for both kids and adults. With all those elements, you would wonder why I said this film is not as good as I used to believe and the answer is the story. The first half of "Monster´s Inc." is what made this film as it showed us this world, introduce the bizarre/amusing creatures that live in it and create an adorable McGuffin in the form of Boo, but once the second half starts and the villain´s plan is unraveled, the films loses all of that wonder feeling that make the first half so memorable and fun to watch by introducing some questionable scenarios and hitting some clichés.

"Monster´s Inc." is an extremely solid and fun film that is neither one of Pixar´s weakest films nor one of the greater ones. A fun and clever concept that sadly didn't get a worthy complete story. Anyone that enjoy animated films or just want to have a fun time should definitely check this film. A solid good film and one of my childhood favorites.