Monsters University is lightweight, predictable fun kids will enjoy

That title isn’t exactly a glowing endorsement, is it?  Monsters University is the prequel to Monsters, Inc. which was released in 2001.  The cynic in me says that if it takes 12 years for a sequel/prequel to come out then the audience isn’t really there to support the movie. 

Monsters, Inc was enjoyable and clever.  While it wasn’t laugh out loud funny, it was the kind of movie that left me with a grin most of the time.

Monsters University had me grinning for a little bit, but more often than not had me looking for my imaginary watch to see when it was over.  Even more unfortunately, most of the grinning moments took place in the trailer.

To be fair to Monsters University, it’s on the same level of enjoyment as Epic.  Children will like it, but adults will probably be bored.   It’s the story of how Mike and Sully met, learned how to scare and some history on the cool doors that can open to the human world.

They’re opposites forced to work together to get something done.  Mike and Sully have a supporting cast of wacky characters that will make children under 10 laugh.  Our 3.5 year old son sat through the movie and occasionally jumped at the mild surprises.    He never laughed, but he’s too young to really enjoy movies for what they are.

He did notice the Monsters University balloon the next day at the store.  “We saw that movie”, he said.  As an adult I wish they had put more humor into the script to make the film really enjoyable.  I think that older children will like it, but not nearly as much as the more recent releases that Disney Pixar has put out.

Monsters University is for the fans, the kids that grew up with the first movie and want to see some of the characters again.  Unfortunately, my math puts that audience at 12-16 years old and they’ll be bored with this movie.

Monsters University is for the toy industry.  Sell toys, lots of toys.  It’s a rare misfire from Disney Pixar and that’s why it hurts so badly.  The snap, energy and sparkle that goes into most of their movies is sorely lacking from this one.  PS, get to work on another Incredibles movie already, but get a good script this time please.