Monsters University

By Katelyn S. Irons | Echo

★★★☆

Not many G-rated movies can get adults and teens interested, but Disney Pixar's latest movie-"Monsters University"-is one that older "kids" can get excited about. In this prequel, moviegoers are shown the story behind the unlikely friendship between Mike and Sulley, the heroes of the 2001 movie "Monsters, Inc."

Although Mike and Sulley are inseparable friends when they work at Monsters, Inc., when they first arrive at Monsters University as freshmen they can't stand each other. The characters are both entering the "scaring" major, which will line them up for the jobs that the scariest monsters get: scaring children to power their world. Sulley is super confident, living off the reputation of his famous scaring father, while the bookish, cheerful Mike tries to prove that he is even scary at all.

Joining Mike and Sulley in this movie are their brothers in the Oozma Kappa fraternity, "OK," which is about as cool as it sounds. The boys need to prove that they and their new friends are more than "OK" to get into the scaring major and pursue their lifelong dreams. The movie's message seems to say, "Sometimes it's alright to be just 'OK.'"

As with the last monsters venture, the voice acting could not have been more perfect. No one could voice Mike other than Billy Crystal or Sullivan other than John Goodman. Another great joins this movie with the voice of Dean Hardscrabble, Helen Mirren.

While the plot is predictable at times, "Monsters University" is better than most college flicks. The great part about this movie is that it includes typical college experiences like parties and fraternities, but leaves out anything that is not appropriate for children. In this way, it allows adults to be able to relate and laugh along with their children at the jokes and gags.

Keeping with the standard of beautiful animation that was set in the earlier movie, this "Monsters "movie is vibrantly colorful and realistically intricate. Overall, the movie is produced and executed with the perfection expected from a Disney-Pixar film. While perhaps not on par with Pixar's "Up," "Monsters University" shines compared to other Disney Pixar releases such as "Cars 2".