7/30/2019 Monsters, Inc. movie review
1/2
Monsters, Inc(2001)
It's pretty much a truism that any film you see from Pixar is
going to be at the very leastentertaining. While I wasn't a huge
fan ofA Bug's Life -- I preferredAntz-- I loved Toy Story,and I
still think Toy Story 2 may be one of the ten best films I've ever
seen. So I went intoMonsters Inc. hopeful, because it's Pixar, but
a little wary, because with the ads and the
trailers it looked like they were trying just a little too hard
with this one.
The beauty of a Pixar film is not in the realistically rendered
artwork and characters, or even in
the big-buck voice talent they usually score. The real trick to
a Pixar film is the mindset of theworld it works in, the twisted
but understandable logic it uses. In Toy Story, you accept thattoys
come alive when you're not there to see them. In a similar twist,
Monsters Incsells you
on the idea that the monsters under your bed are in fact real,
that they do come out at nightand scare you, but that they are part
of an entire dimension of monsters who are all prettynormal joes
except in their appearances. They still have families, fall in
love, have jobs, etc.;
like the toys, they are just like me and you but with a twist.
That's what makes Pixar filmswork, ultimately; we can recognize
ourselves in these characters.
And what a pair of leads we are given. Mike Wazowski (Billy
Crystal) is a short, rotund littleguy with one eye and long spindly
limbs. He's (predictably, being played by Crystal) sarcastic,
funny, and slightly neurotic. His partner, James P. 'Sully'
Sullivan (John Goodman) is a highlyrespected worker at the monster
power plant, and Mike pretty much exists in his shadow. Butthey are
a team, and Mike is never resentful of his partner's success. Sully
is the plant's top
scarer; apparently the monster world is powered by electricity
gathered from children'sscreams, which is why they started coming
out from under the bed and inside your closet inthe first
place.
What monsters fear, of course, is contact with our world; they
scoot through phantomdoorways and appear to scare us, then retreat
quickly back once the energy is gathered. But
it's almost criminal for them to bring back any objects from our
dimension, and they live indread of being contaminated by highly
toxic human children. It's all very funny until Sully, byaccident,
runs into a human child who does not fear him (monsters are matched
to specific
children to maximize the scare potential). The adorable little
child, whom he names'Boo'(voiced by Mary Gibbs)comes into the
monster world, and hijinks ensue.
I won't spoil any more of the plot for you -- in fact, I've only
given away about the first tenminutes of set up or so -- but I will
say that Pixar knows its strengths and plays to them. Thecharacters
are all very likeable; Boo is adorable, and Sully is all heart.
Mike is funny and justthe right shade of irascible to be amusing.
There are other supporting characters: a viciousopportunistic
scarer named Randall (Steve Buscemi) and the creepy but somehow
dignifiedspider-boss Henry J. Waternoose (James Coburn, but he
reminded me *very* vividly of Orson
Welles, visually) and the taciturn paper-pusher Roz (Bob
Peterson). As you would expect in aPixar film, all of the
characters are well realized both visually and in a personality
sense.
What Monsters Inchas, aside from abundant humor, is heart. The
movie overflows with it, andBoo's relationship with Sully is just
heartwarming. The movie never sways into the maudlin or
