Monsters, Inc. (2001)
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Monsters, Inc. Movie Review
Monsters, Inc. is a 2001 animated comedy film directed by Pete Docter and starring John Goodman and Billy Crystal. It is one of Pixar’s biggest classics.
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“Boo?
Kitty!“
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The plot is truly outstanding here and unlike any other story in an animated film. The originality is off the roof with this one. So we have monsters who scare children as when they scare them, their city is powered through the kids’ cries. But when our two protagonists accidentally get a kid into the city, and kids are considered dangerous for the monsters, the hilarity and madness ensues.
The storytelling is excellent and the film is riveting and wonderful from its first to the very last moment and I just wish that the runtime was a bit longer as the film is too short for me. I loved that beginning and how perfectly it introduced us to this world, I loved the villain and the darker elements and conspiracy in the film and of course that ending is simply beautiful and incredibly heartwarming. The film has a big heart for sure.
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Let’s talk about the characters which are all absolutely phenomenal due to terrific character development at display here. Sulley is such a wonderful soul and the straight man of this duo, but he’s never boring as he’s so immensely likable and sweet. Of course Mike Wazowski is the more energetic, funnier and lighthearted part of their duo and surely he’s quite amusing in many of his scenes and consistently fun while always being likable as well.
The relationship between these two is so well brought home thanks to two fantastic performances from John Goodman and Billy Crystal. I felt the chemistry between the actors and characters and truly their friendship is wonderful and their interactions are so great and you can just see that they have been friends for quite a while owing to superb writing of their dialogue.
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Randall Boggs is a phenomenal villain and he could have been the very best Pixar villain had it not been for Steve Buscemi’s weaker voice performance and he was quite miscast in the role. But that is only a minor gripe as otherwise he is phenomenally designed, very menacing and I loved his invisibility power and slithery nature. A great villain.
Celia is a funny girlfriend character, Henry J. Waternoose is important and memorable too and Roz is quite amusing. I also liked Yeti and that scene is so well executed that it did not feel like a detour that it easily could have felt like had it been written in a weaker manner. And what is there yet to say that hasn’t already been said about Boo? She’s a wonderful, simply adorable kid and the heart of the film lies in her relationship with Sulley which is so well established and it progressed quite smoothly. I just love her so much and she just might be the cutest ever animated kid.
Monsters, Inc. is simply gorgeously animated. How Pixar progressed from the crude animation in ‘A Bug’s Life’ and ‘Toy Story 2’ to this fantastic animation in just a couple of years is beyond me and they surely must be congratulated for their advanced in computer technology and evident professionalism in their animation work.
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The backgrounds are terrific, but naturally the highlights are the details such as clothes, hair and interiors, all stupendously designed and animated for 2001. It truly is a groundbreaking CGI film and the various monsters all look phenomenal and believable in their movements. The colorful nature to the film led to such a joyous, pleasant experience too. The world building is meticulous and brilliant.
Monsters, Inc. is not a perfect film and thus ‘WALL-E’ and ‘Ratatouille’ are better for me. This is still a five-star movie for me, but it has too much action which is a problem almost all Pixar films have and I wished for a longer, but slower in pace film and that would have led to a perfect movie by all means. But still, the film is great as it is and that flaw is only minor and it does not affect my enjoyment of the movie all too much.
The dialogue is fantastic here and the pacing is mostly good despite it having too much action. But I still really liked the action scenes here with the doors and various chases and I loved the hidings and escapes from its great villain. The film also has very strong humor and I laughed and smiled more than a couple of times. Very strong writing here.
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Pete Docter directed the film beautifully and he surely is my favorite Pixar director and also one of my faves overall when it comes to the animation field. The soundtrack is also pretty solid as is the song If I Didn’t Have You. The film is so well crafted across all technical aspects that it surely is a lean machine of a family animated flick and one of the best of its type in recent memory. The tone is also right and the film is consistently entertaining while also being smart. It isn’t thematically rich as some other Pixar films are, but still they explored the power of laughter so well and I just loved their exploration and turning upside down of kids’ fear of the monster behind the cupboard.
With fantastic dialogue, great world building, very good humor, an original and very moving story and terrific voice work from John Goodman and Billy Crystal, Monsters, Inc. has two wonderful characters in Sulley and Mike Wazowski along with an effective, memorable villain in Randall Boggs. Also, has there ever been a more adorable cartoon kid than Boo? The animation truly is stunning for 2001 and simply groundbreaking. The ending is so heartwarming as well. It is consequently one of Pixar’s best films and undoubtedly an animated classic.
