Monsters University

 

Expectations:
Monsters Inc., which was released back in 2001 (when I was 11 years old), has a special place in many hearts of folks my age. While I'm not a huge, huge fan of Monsters Inc., I do remember watching the movie in the theater, and my love of films from my childhood has grown over the years, so I was looking forward to the prequel. However, the biggest problem that I thought may come with Monsters University is that the folks my age have very little interest in children's cartoons, on account of being in our 20s. For Pixar, releasing a prequel or sequel to a 12 year old film could have turned out to be a very bad idea. Fortunately, that was not the case, as Monster University has now remained at the top of the box office for two straight weekends. As for the concept behind the prequel, I was really very excited to see how Pixar did college. The worst part about "college comedies" tends to be the fact that they are rarely similar to the actual collegiate experience. In this case, actuality was not a huge concern, considering the film stars MONSTERS...

Plot:
The entire focus of Monsters University was on the infamous Mike Wazowski (voiced by Billy Crystal). Of course we learn the backstory of how he became friends with his partner, Sulley (voiced by John Goodman), but the plot was mostly "Mike vs. the world" or "Mike vs. wherever the monsters actually reside." While this theme was nice in the beginning, it got old after a while. Also, I was not pleased with the way they handled the "college life" of Mike and Sulley. Sure, Pixar has to keep it PG, but they could have at least thrown a joke in, here or there. But, it is what it is. My favorite thing about the film was the lack of any sort of romantic/love element, which I sort of expected with the collegiate theme for some reason. Pixar does a great job of keeping unnecessary romance out of the way, and I love it when a movie lacks a love story, because it is so rare.

Characters:
It's really hard to critique characters in a sequel or prequel, because most people already have their mind made up regarding who they like or dislike. But, if you think of Monsters University as its own film, it is easy to find some highs and lows character-wise.

Negatives:
While Mike is my favorite Monster, by far, Sulley is also quite likeable. However, in Monsters University, I did not think they really did a good job of building up the character that we have all come to love. You may disagree, but, in comparison to Mike (who was the focus of the film), Sulley just fell into the background and became unimportant. Randall Boggs (voiced by Steve Buscemi), who was the villain in Monsters Inc., was another character that I did not think was built up in the best of ways. Randall should have switched roles with Monsters University's obvious villain, Johnny Worthington (voiced by Nathan Fillion).

Positives:
As I said before, Mike is my favorite Monsters character, and that opinion was greatly strengthened with this film, as he was the only character who I thought was "prequelized" in a good way. While he was the focus of an unsatisfying plot, his character was great. The only other character that I loved was Art (voiced by Charlie Day), who was absolutely hilarious and stupid. He was basically a stoner stuck in a PG movie.

Conclusion:
Under normal circumstances, Monsters University would be a very satisfying animated film, but, when you are dealing with a prequel to a historically praised animated film, you expect greatness. Unfortunately, I wouldn't categorize Monsters University as "greatness." I don't want to discourage people from watching, especially if you loved Monsters Inc., but it just wasn't as great as what we have come to expect from the Pixar crew. The least satisfying thing about Monsters University was the lack of college humor, which I was really looking forward to. Sure, they used fraternities and sororities and admission issues, but they were not used in a funny way, for the most part. I give Monsters University 2.92 out of 5 stars, and I hope that Pixar soon gets its act straight.

The Muppets

Expectations:
I absolutely love The Muppets! I spent like a billion hours, as a child, watching Muppets Treasure Island over and over and over again. To be honest, I never thought there would be a large renewal of interest in The Muppets. The world revolves around digital everything, and Pixar has redefined PG animation. Who would have thought that a bunch of puppets could pull in almost thirty million dollars on opening weekend? Certainly not me. Regardless of my surprise, I had great expectations for The Muppets. Jason Segel is one of the funniest men alive, and Kermit is one of the wisest. That combo is destined for success, as far as I am concerned. So I figured it was "time to see The Muppets".....

Plot:
Well, amazingly enough, the storyline for the new Muppets was quite good. Segel did a great job of using the classic Muppet storylines, characters, and themes. Obviously, it is much easier to make a remake with puppets rather than people. You don't have to worry about finding the right actor. You just take them out of the closet and turn a camera on. The Muppets were trying to get back together, after having all gone their separate ways. It was very realistic. I'm just glad they didn't start at the beginning or just act like there was never any kind of break or anything. It was sort of goofy and kidsy, but that's what you have to expect with a show about puppets.

Best Scene: The singing of "Rainbow Connection" will make anybody smile.
Characters:
Gary, played by Jason Segel, and his brother Walter, voiced by Peter Linz, are the main characters in the story. The two head off to Hollywood with two very different intentions. Walter eventually sets the whole plot into motion, and his character was great in the lead. You really wanted his wishes to come true, even though he was only a puppet. Segel certainly wasn't his normal kind of funny, which absolutely dissapointed me. I know that he tends to be crude, but I believe they could have made him more funny and less serious/dorky, even without losing the PG rating. Amy Adams was a little annoying as the female lead, but that is her job. There were multiple actors who popped in for a scene or two, making for a very nice surprise. It's sort of hard to go wrong with puppets.

Best Character: I thought that what they did with Animal (voiced by Eric Jacobson) was absolutely brilliant. He was sort of recovering from his past, which certainly made for the most interesting plotline for any of the puppets.

Worst Character: I will never EVER say that Kermit the frog is the worst character in anything, but I really hated his storyline in this new Muppets movie. They made Kermit look weak and emotional, which is absolutely false. He is supposed to be the one who has it all together!!! You just don't know how much this pissed me off!

Conclusion:
I honestly did not care for this movie. Everybody I talk to says how much they loved it, which probably means that none of you will agree with me. Maybe my expectations were too high, or maybe I just loved Arthur Christmas too much to appreciate anything soon after. Nevertheless, that's my opinion. While I do like the traditional Muppet toons, I usually dislike movies with a lot of music worked into the story. The music certainly could have been the reason why I didn't fully appreciate the movie. I really didn't care for any moment when humans were on screen. The puppets were fantastic, but Segel and Adams just got in the way most of the time. Now that I have vented, I will give The Muppets 2.47 out of 5 stars.

Movie News for the Week of August 26, 2011

Just in case you missed it last week, movie news has moved to Fridays. So be on the lookout for great news to share with your friends each and every weekend.

Also, the first trailer for The Hunger Games will air this Sunday, during the Video Music Awards. Be sure you check that out!

1. A writer named Sean Hood has submitted a screenplay for yet another Rambo film. He reportedly had some help from Sylvester Stallone while writing the script, which makes this something that very well could happen in the near future.

2. The Last Exorcism, made for just $1.6 million, has grossed $67 million since last year, which means there imminently will be an sequel. Production for the sequel is set to begin in the fall, and yet another "Last/Final" movie has failed to wrap up a series (I'm talking to you, The Final Destination).

3. In an interview with Denis Miller, Dan Akroyd revealed that Ghostbusters 3 was definitely happening and hopefully will include Bill Murray, who hasn't been keen on making a third film. Akroyd said that the classic ghostbusters would be passing the torch on to younger stars. Also, Matthew Gray Gubler (Criminal Minds) was mentioned by Akroyd as one of the younger stars that he had in mind.

4. Chevy Chase announced this week that he has scripted a new Vacation movie, without the National Lampoon tag. The story would revolve around the original characters, who would jump off of their cruise ship, thinking that the boat was on fire. The Griswolds would wash up on an island, where good ol' Randy was left after a season of Survivor. Sounds like a funny plot to me.

5. While it has been known that a Popeye movie is on the way to the big screen, this week it was rumored that Jim Carrey will voice the sailor man. Also rumored, Amy Adams will voice the character of Olive Oyl.

6. Although very little detail is known at this point, it has been reported that the Scary Movie franchise will get a fifth installment. No actors or directors have been linked to the film, but the studio wants it out next summer. They better hurry up!

7. There will be an additional bonus when you go watch The Muppets this November. Disney announced this week that a Toy Story short entitled "Small Fry" will play before you see Kermit and crew return to the big screen.

8. Along with the Toy Story news, Pixar made even bigger news this week when they announced concepts for two new films. The first film will be out in November 2013 and will take place in a world where dinosaurs never became extinct. The second film will be out in May of 2014 and will go "inside the human mind." Both of these sound interesting to me, and I cannot wait to trailers.

This is a compilation video that somebody made, and it contains the 25 Greatest Unscripted Scenes in Film. Some of them really surprised me. I think it's definitely worth a look.

Movie News for the Week of June 28, 2011

Sorry the news this week is not very exciting, but these are the most interesting things I could find.

1. Super 8 star Joel Courtney has signed on to play Tom Sawyer in a new remake of the classic tale. The movie will begin shooting in August.

2. Vin Diesel has announced a summer 2013 release date for the next Fast and Furious movie. The sixth installment of the series is much anticipated following the success of this year's Fast Five.

3. The new Spy Kids 4 will feature 4D Aroma Scope. This will allow the audience to smell certain parts of the movie. Kind of weird if you ask me.

4. Comedic genius Judd Apatow has begun working on a Pee Wee Herman feature film. Yay for the Pee Wee fans!

5. Warner Bros. will move forward on the making of a Green Lantern sequel despite the first film underperforming at the box office. Green Lantern was made for $200 million and given $100 million for marketing and has only made $180 million at the box office so far. This really surprises me. If you read my review of the first film, you will see how I feel about a sequel.

6. A screenwriter has been found for Will Smith's recreation of the classic Annie. If you did not know, Willow Smith (Will's daughter) will play Annie and Jay Z has signed on to do the music for the film.

7. Tom Hanks said this week that Toy Story 4 is already being prepared by the fine folks at Pixar. Although Pixar has not made an official statement regarding another sequel, Hanks would be the one to know if this was the truth.

For the Pixar fans, this is the teaser trailer for Brave, out next summer: