The Monster Uni

In 2001, and Mike and Sulley from Monster AG showed how and why they make little kids scream out loud night after night, deliciously amusing an enthusiastic cinema audience. It has taken twelve years for a reunion with the popular monsters from the Pixar animation studio. But now the time has finally come: Monster Uni opens its doors and shows old and new fans of Mike and Sulley how the two have become the great terrors that you have come to know and love them in Monster AG. The story begins with a still very young Mike Glotzkowski is convinced during a visit to Monster AG that he has found his destiny. Although he's far too small and not at all scary, he wants to go on to be the best scarecrow Monstropolis has ever seen. In fact, years later he makes it to Monsters University, where many of his idols learned the art of scaring. Mike is convinced that he, too, can make it if he puts his full attention to his studies. But this is made more than difficult for him by James P. Sulley Sullivan. The blue giant believes that his size and his father's reputation are enough to get him through his studies - which proves to be a big mistake as the semester progresses. Sulley doesn't like the fact that a little guy like the bug-eyed Mike, of all people, could outshine him. Again and again the two clash, which finally escalates into a heated argument that gets them both kicked out of the Schreckology course. Their last hope is to take part in the fright games. But not only would they have to work closely together as a team to do so - they'd also have to team up with a group of completely incompetent monsters. And that just can't go well. Although Pixar executives used to resist directing sequels to their films, that attitude has apparently changed after the successes of the Toy Story and Cars movies. Because while work is still feverishly underway on the second installment of Finding Nemo, monsters Mike and Sulley may now also get a second go. The decision to tell the backstory of the popular characters in the sequel to The Monsters Inc. proves to be a great strength of the film. After all, the surprise effect of the first film is missing here and the concept just doesn't feel quite as refreshing and fresh the second time around. This weakness has been countered by making the story and the setting in which it is told very different from its much-loved predecessor. At the same time, there are plenty of little allusions to its predecessor that tie the two films together perfectly. Monster Uni may not be quite as amusing overall as The Monsters Inc. But once again it becomes clear that the creative minds at Pixar not only do a first-class job technically, but can also tell simply beautiful stories time and time again. The tumultuous adventures on college campuses that turn Mike and Sulley from rivals to friends are peppered with wonderful ideas, lovable characters, and incredibly funny situational comedy. The story itself is somewhat lacking in surprises and is reminiscent of numerous classic college movies such as Revenge of the Eggheads or Animal House, although here their genre-typical set pieces are played with again and again in a very clever and amusing way. As a viewer, you take the new side characters, especially the endearingly naive Squsihy and the wonderfully insane Art, to your heart just as quickly as the two familiar main characters. It's just fun to watch this troupe of chaos as they try to fight for their place in the frightology course. Peppered with lots of little details that you can't even take in their entirety on first viewing, and not just visually grandiosely realized (the sound design is quite superb especially during the appearances of the terrifying Dean Hardscrabble), The Monsters University is once again quite a big hit in Pixar's body of work so far, despite some minor flaws. It's an imaginative, fun and endearing family film that is once again well worth sitting through until after the credits. Because then there is a very nice gag that is set up at the beginning of the film and really pays off here. If you already liked Die Monster AG and lower your expectations a little bit, you will be entertained here for 100 minutes at its best. At this university you should definitely enroll!!

Ein Artikel von Frankfurt-Tipp