74) Monsters Inc.
Director: Pete Doctor
Year: 2001
Plot Summary: In a land of monsters, James P. Sullivan is king. He and his coworker, Mike Wazowski, are two of many monsters that work for Monsters Inc. a utility company that generates power for a very paranoid and nervous city of Monstropolis. This power is generated from the screams of children which is produced by scaring them in their sleep. One night, however, Sully uncovers a devious plot to rid the city of its power problems, but in all the wrong ways.
With a smart script, great characters, beautiful animation, gorgeous colours and some superb voice work, it's impossible not to fall in love with Monsters Inc. Putting a playful spin on a childhood legend, Pixar have once again created something that is both stylish and intelligent and both funny and heartwarming.Sure, these trademarks aren't up to the standard of the rest of their catalogue. While its final ten minutes will leave you teary, they don't break your heart like the Toy Story does. While its aforementioned animation is wonderful, it lacks the beauty that they achieved with Finding Nemo. And while it's very funny, many of the gags aren't witty like The Incredibles and are, instead, more slapstick and physical.
But not quite reaching their usual standards is no complaint by any means, after all, very few filmmakers do. Monsters Inc., therefore, still remains one of the most entertaining movies of the last ten years. It's high energy, fast paced style is one that never lets up from the jazzy opening titles to the final fade out. Moreover, the brilliant concept never loses its momentum, constantly surprising you with little twists and additions to the monsters' world throughout.
One thing that Monsters Inc. does excel in, however, is its morals. Aside from being fun stories for children, their work has a lot of lessons that adults can take from Pixar's catalogue. They shed light on the importance of giving children independence in Finding Nemo, they raise important points about global warming and its effects in Wall-E and with the Toy Story franchise, the adults who take their children to see the film will be blessed with a trilogy that chronicles the relationships between adults and children as they grow up. But, here, underneath the jokes and action, Monsters Inc. has a message that especially in our modern world is something everyone can learn from: Laughter is stronger than fear.
4/5
6 comments:
It's real sweet, definitely closing up upon their masterpieces (Toy Story, Toy Story 3 and The Incredibles). It's also the first going to the cinema memory I have, even though I know I saw Toy Story in the cinema.
Oh, full Pixar ranking?
Mine:
1. Toy Story
2. Toy Story 3
3. The Incredibles
4. Monster's Inc.
5. Up
6. Toy Story 2
7. Finding Nemo
8. Ratatouille
9. Cars
10. A Bug's Life
11. Wall-E
Wooooow!
I'm made up to see such a high ranking for the new Toy Story movie.
I loved it very much but I'm surprised it's so high. :)
However, your lowest choice disappoints me very much. :|
How can you NOT love Wall-E? It's a work of beauty!
01) Toy Story - 10/10
02) The Incredibles - 9.5/10
03) Wall-E - 9/10
04) Finding Nemo - 9/10
05) Monster's Inc. - 8.5/10
06) Toy Story 3 - 8.5/10
07) Ratatouille - 8/10
08) Toy Story 2 - 8/10
09) Up - 8/10
10) A Bug's Life - 7/10
11) Cars - 7/10
Wall-E just feels like a preachy and nagging extended short film. Mixing the humans with the robots was a big mistep, I'll feel compassion for toys because of the emotional resonance, but not for robots with each other.
And yeah, I just saw TS3 again :) looove it (8/10 though). I'll definitely be a chump and shell out the for the trilogy superset when it comes out (blu-ray dvd combo etc). That scene near the end when the toys begin to accept their fate is beautiful.
Yeah, it loses its magic in the last part. But I can overlook that seeing as I think it's such a gorgeous movie. It's so wonderfully made and so original for its genre too.
I need to see TS3 again now its out in cinemas. :)
Hell yes! That box set would be to die for. I do need to invest in Blu Ray first though. Damn my simple TV and it's lack of HD.
Ohhhh, you mean the scene in the landfill? I wept copious amounts of tears at that. So much so that some of the kids in the cinema seemed to look at me as if to say: "Get a grip, mate."
There was a great review on The Guardian's website about how Peter Bradshaw was so moved when he revisited the Toy Story franchise as a father. He wrote about how he saw the whole trilogy as an insight into parenthood - the toys being the adults - and the relationships that parents have with their kids.
His reviews can be a bit pretentious sometimes, but it was a really nice article and it made a very interesting little analysis. Plus, it made me want to go back and watch the 3 films all over again with those things in mind.
If you can find it, I'd give it a read. :)
Oh, did you read the mini-analysis from Empire too? About the first one being about dealing with new employees at work, the second being promotion and the third being retirement. That's a very interesting analogy.
And yes. Blu is <3
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