MOVIE REVIEW

Monsters, Inc.  (2001)

Voices: Billy Crystal, John Goodman, James Coburn
Director: Peter Docter

Rating: G

Studio: Disney/Pixar

Review Posted: 11.15.01

Spoilers: None

By Craig Younkin

It's been several years since Pixar first wowed us with "Toy Story", the first three-dimensional cartoon ever produced. Now we know it as the re-shaping of the animation world as this year alone we have had three 3-D animated films hit the big screen. One of those was the movie "Shrek," an insanely funny animated work from Dreamworks that so far ranks as the funniest movie of the year. Pixar hopes to stand up right next to the giant ogre this weekend with "Monsters Inc", a delightful family film that sadly just falls short of that achievement, but is still worth the trip.

One of the reasons why is for the inventive ideas the story comes up with. It takes place in the city known as Monstropolis, a haven for monsters, which is all powered by the power plant, commonly known as Monsters Incorporated.

The company consists mainly of frightening children, storing their screams, and then later powering the city with them. The number one scarer in the biz is John P. Sullivan, or Sully, (voiced by John Goodman), a hairy, six foot, and blue working class monster with a good heart, but also a real knack for his work. His partner is the always fast talking Mike Wazowski (voiced by Billy Crystal), who is both friend and trainer to Sully.

The two of them are very excited for the reason that Sully is about to break the all time scare record. But one monster that stands in there way is Randall Boggs (voiced as evil as ever by Steve Buscemi), a chameleon-like creature who finally decides to resort to cheating when Sully remains at the top of the standings board at the end of the day.

The company uses an assembly line of closet doors to get to the human world, just they are to be locked away at the end of the day. But when Sully goes back to the office to pick up something for Mike, he sees a door left out, and a little human girl pulling at his fur. A monster touching a human or a human getting through the doors is considered to be a contamination alert, so Sully can do nothing but panic when he sees her.

Soon the entire city is looking for the monsters hiding the little girl, and both Sully and Mike each have to think of a plan before this ruins them both.

"Monsters Inc" is loaded with creative ideas, from the plot all the way down to the objects and animals used as inspirations for each monster. Each character is weird looking in their own way and all of them have personalities that are colorful enough to be entertained by. Billy Crystal's Mike Wazowski is easily the most energetic character in the film, and thus the most entertaining.

Only the main problem I had with the movie is the lack of comedy it is able to create. There are a couple of belly laughs and a handful of sight gags, but there is a big gap between all of them that could seriously use some of that witty dialogue that worked so well in last year's Disney film, "The Emperor's New Groove".

But "Monsters Inc" makes up for a lack of comedy by adding a lot of excitement (the finale features one of the best chase sequences I've seen from a Disney film), and some really touching moments that both parents and kids will like. If you're looking for a family film that's interesting and fun, then "Monsters Inc." will do just fine for the time being.

Rating: 3 out of 4