Monsters, Inc. Review
by Shannon Patrick Sullivan (shannon AT morgan DOT ucs DOT mun DOT ca)November 26th, 2001
MONSTERS, INC. (2001) / ***
Directed by Pete Docter. Screenplay by Dan Gerson and Andrew Stanton. Starring Billy Crystal, John Goodman, Steve Buscemi. Running time: 95 minutes. Rated G by the MFCB. Reviewed on November 26th, 2001.
By SHANNON PATRICK SULLIVAN
Synopsis: Monstropolis is powered by the screams of young humans, obtained by intrepid monsters who sneak through their closet doors at night -- always mindful that the touch of a child is lethal. Jovial Sulley (Goodman) is Monstropolis' top scarer, ably aided by his sidekick, one-eyed chatterbox Mike Wazowski (Crystal). When the devious Randall (Buscemi) accidentally lets a young girl (Mary Gibbs) into Monstropolis, only Sulley and Mike can save civilisation as they know it.
Review: It is virtually impossible not to review "Monsters, Inc." without comparing it to that other computer-animated monster movie of the year, "Shrek". But the two are really different beasts. "Shrek" drew much of its humour from its story and premise; "Monsters", on the other hand, tends toward more contrived jokes, seeming somewhat sitcom-like as a result. This is not entirely a criticism: "Monsters" is very funny, albeit in a different way than "Shrek" was. Some lines are laugh-out-loud hysterical, like Crystal's reference to "bring an obscure relative to work day", and I felt that both Goodman and Crystal hit the right notes in their voice work. But it does give "Monsters" a more lightweight feel, augmented by the paucity of jokes aimed at the more mature audience members (another difference from the more multi-targeted "Shrek"). "Monsters" also runs more thinly on plot; and while this isn't a huge problem given its less than ninety-minute running time, things do start to feel a bit repetitive in the last half hour. Fortunately, though, there's always the wonderfully imaginative animation -- just on the safe side of cartoony to ensure that Monstropolis isn't too frightening for youngsters -- to keep you diverted. A side note: be sure not to show up late or you'll miss the delightful short film "For The Birds" which immediately precedes the main attraction.
Copyright © 2001 Shannon Patrick Sullivan.
Archived at The Popcorn Gallery,
http://www.physics.mun.ca/~sps/movies.html
| Shannon Patrick Sullivan | [email protected] | +---------------------------------+---------------------------------+ / Doctor Who: A Brief History of Time (Travel) go.to/drwho-history \ \__ We are all in the gutter but some of us are looking at the stars __/
Originally posted in the rec.arts.movies.reviews newsgroup. Copyright belongs to original author unless otherwise stated. We take no responsibilities nor do we endorse the contents of this review.
