RBR: Monsters University

We have long known that Pixar spoiled movie goers with the quality of the movies that they put out for over a decade. Audiences and critics began to realize that producing classic after classic is not a given based on Pixar's recent streak of underwhelming efforts. It was not only taken for granted that each film they made would be great, but that even their sequels would be just as good as their original films. When you look at both of the Toy Story sequels, it is remarkable how they were able to maintain such excellence. A large part of that was likely due to them having a clear vision for what the stories should be for each of those films. We saw actual character development and a defined story arc related to life and mortality. The same cannot be said for Monsters University, a prequel to 2001's Monsters Inc.. Unlike with Woody and the gang, it seems as if the Pixar crew has no idea what to do with Mike and Sully. The concept of taking a look at them in college is intriguing, although a bit odd for a movie aimed at such a young audience. The fact that they essentially do a Revenge of the Nerds ripoff is disappointing. There are plenty of colorful characters and jokes that work regardless of how old you are, but none of this feels innovative or fresh. If this were merely a Saturday morning cartoon extension of the franchise, I probably would not be as hard on them. But for them to revisit these characters nearly a decade later, I expected something more worthwhile. From a technical standpoint, there's nothing wrong here. However, this film is more representative of a student who coasts through school on decent grades rather than the valedictorian who puts everything they've got into making sure they are the best. Rating: ***