It’s that time of the year again, the blockbuster season in Hollywood that coincides with the Californian summer. A cursory look at the films playing at your friendly cinema will reveal the plethora of options for the moviegoer. There are the more family oriented releases like Monsters University and Despicable Me 2, live wire concoctions as Fast 6 and Man of Steel, adventure production Lone Ranger, a rather prosaic offering called The Internship and of course Baz Luhrmann’s rendition of The Great Gatsby. All these choices present a convenient weekend relief after a week of heavy Sydney rain. The decision for me was easy enough to make. I had been anticipating the Monsters, Inc. sequel for ages, having been very impressed by the original. Furthermore, I am an avid follower of Pixar movies.

I went to the downtown cinemas with a good mate. Without giving away too much, the film captivated me the whole way. I found elegance in its simplicity. Though family oriented, there is no age limit for a feel good movie. On a near-perfect winter’s day, I sniggered through Mike’s wit and empathised with this one-eyed underdog. I was particularly impressed with the work’s character development. Hats off to the Pixar team for manufacturing the clever depth, expertly done I should add. His tremendous self-belief in the face of duress made a believer out of me. His courage and optimism made for such riveting entertainment. The fresh ideas of monsters and scaring is also something that I would applaud. This is a welcome change for someone like me who’s been duped to witness such downers like Die Hard this year. Trust me when I say that you’ll get your money’s worth.

My verdict on this prequel is that I love the originality, the seamless plot structure and the aforementioned character depth. I say we should not judge this in comparison to its predecessor. Such an exercise would not be doing justice to the tireless efforts and innovation dispensed by the text’s crew. We should appreciate Monsters University for what it really is: something highly creative and unique in its own right that effortlessly delivers the laughs and family fun. All in all, the ideal escape after such a week of torrential rain.

***1/2

Note: first pressed at soundbitefever.com