By Brett Blake The long-awaited (or perhaps not, if you're one of those people who thinks Pixar should get out of the franchise business) follow-up-in-reverse to 2001's MONSTERS, INC., MONSTERS UNIVERSITY is a worthy continuation of that film's world. I think it's arguably funnier than that film, but it doesn't as openly tug at your heartstrings (there's still some of that, however). In place of the more saccharine emotion, this film presents a surprisingly sophisticated and mature message, one that deals with the notion of questioning whether or not you're truly cut out to do with your life what you feel you were meant for, and the third act of the story explores that concept in a resonant way that I found quite wonderful and rich. Before we get there, though, we're treated to a terrifically entertaining encapsulation of just about every classic university-set comedy; the movie is not devoid of cliches, but it pulls them off in high style, and with some tremendous laughs along the way. The vocal performances are as energetic and emotive as you could hope for. The animation is right up to Pixar's unbelievably high standards, being dazzlingly colorful and detailed from the first frame to the last; additionally, the design and rendering of the university campus and its environs is great, evoking a sense of perpetual autumn that is quite lovely. I also want to single-out Randy Newman's music, which I think tops his work for the first film - he provides a fun collegiate type sound that meshes just right with the sentimentality. Many have have found MONSTERS UNIVERSITY to be another slightly downward step for Pixar, coming off the less-than-universally-loved CARS 2 and BRAVE (both of which I enjoyed to various degrees); is this movie "lesser" Pixar? Who knows and who cares? It's completely charming, and an awful lot of fun.
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