Monsters University

Where dropping LSD is a commonplace...

                                                              ...I told you

DIRECTOR: Dan Scanlon

CAST: Harry Burns, Walter Sobchak, Mr. Pink and some crazy old woman going skits at some drummers outside a theatre...

PLOT: Mike Wazowski and James P. Sullivan are back, but this time they are younger versions of themselves attempting to work their way towards graduating from the famous Monsters University!

I imagine that I wasn't the only person who had doubts when they heard the announcement from Pixar stating that they were going to make a prequel to 'Monsters Inc.', incidentally my favourite film from Pixar, telling the story of how the little one-eyed green dude met his big, blue, furry friend (submit your dirty euphemisms in the comment box at the end of this review). It's a prequel that I'm sure very few people were asking for and the amount of sequels and spin-offs coming out of Pixar at the moment is a worrying sign that they may be struggling to come up with new and original ideas. Perhaps it's time that they began to accept scripts from writers that don't already work for the famous animation studios?

However, any scepticism is quickly forgotten about in a mere amount of minutes into the opening of 'Monsters University'. The beautiful animation, bright and attractive colours, and the sheer inventiveness of this parallel universe to our own, full of weird, wonderful and wacky monsters is so immersive I just couldn't help but transform back into the excitable little shit that I was when 'Monsters Inc.' was released in 2001. 

When you think about it, if any Pixar film (except for maybe the 'Toy Story' franchise) is to spawn more adventures, this universe is the sensible and best choice. You have 'Sulley's' and 'Mike's' world, and then you also have our own boring world that supplies the screams - two destinations to find adventure. Also, the characters can look like any mental creation that the animators dream up. There's no rules and anything goes. This makes every shot rich and immensely interesting, as your eyes scour the frame trying to take in all of the slimy and hairy beings. And despite the fact that these characters are often covered in slime or hair, you still manage to see yourself in a few of them despite the fact they are monsters, as you notice the extras rushing to their exams, one with multiple eyes reading multiple books held by its multiple limbs, another with multiple limbs drinking multiple cups of coffee. Chances are if you have taken any exams in your educational life (and assuming you cared about them) you will be able to associate yourself with one or the other, maybe even both.

Which is a good job, because there are plenty of interesting characters to fill the shoes (if monsters even wear shoes) of your old favourites from the previous outing as they don't all feature again. And even then you'll still have fun spotting the cameos of a few familiar faces. New main characters including those of the fraternity are all lovable in their oddball way, a stand-out perhaps being the one who is, adults will spot, an obvious stoner; which continues to prove that Pixar caters to old'uns as well as children. And Helen Mirren puts in a great performance as the horrifying Dean of the university - a monster even the monsters are afraid of.

But it's still the brilliant voices of Billy Crystal and John Goodman that steal the show, which is not to be seen as a surprise. Their characters' relationship and chemistry is flipped over from 'Monsters Inc.' as they both rival each other, but the light entertainment is never lost and it adds a welcomed new dimension to the friendship that you thought you already knew.

                                   Shed the skin of an Oxbridge student and this is what you get      

Faults are few and far between, and they're quickly forgiven due to the fantastic quality of the film as a whole. The plot is a simplistic one which treads down familiar paths, but then again it is easy to forget that this is a film for kids. Plus, it's often hilarious, thanks to clever sight gags and glorious characters - full of heavy metal loving mother monsters (try and say that quickly), goth monsters and a nerdy Steve Buscemi monster - so who the hell cares?        

Plus, without the presence of 'Boo', we aren't really given a bridge between our own world and this fictional one. But in saying that, their world is a whole lot more interesting - so who the hell cares? 

After having a bad day, I soon forgot all about my troubles and once the credits began to roll I couldn't wipe the big stupid grin off my face. This is escapism at its very best and 'Monsters University' will be welcomed to sit alongside the marginally superior 'Monsters Inc.' We might still be hoping that Pixar returns to giving us more stand-alone titles in the future, but nobody can claim that this isn't pure Pixar. A wonderfully imaginative story with endearing and hilarious characters has always been the name of the game for them. This is monsters incredible.

* * * * ½

Man of Steel (IMAX 3D)

Man of Copper...

                                   Constantly turning around doesn't constitute as a performance

DIRECTOR: Christopher Nol- erm, no- I mean Zack Snyder

CAST: ME!, Micky Ward's girlfriend, that guy Eminem punched, The Postman, Russell Crowe fighting around the world, Paulette Goddard and the Silver Surfer...

PLOT: A reboot of one of the most universally famous superheroes, we go through the origins of Superman being Nolan-afied. 

I've never liked 'Superman'. It's difficult to begin as to why I don't. Firstly, how the fuck do we kill him? Not by shooting him in the eye, we know that much already. He's too... super. He hasn't got enough weaknesses, and thus we can't see ourselves in him. Bruce Wayne's parents are dead, Tony Stark's an alcoholic and prone to anxiety attacks and Peter Parker is a massive nerd. And all of them subsequently make far more interesting superheroes.

David S. Goyer also reminds us that he stands as a patriotic symbol to the US, especially with the ill-advised line "I grew up in Kansas, General. I'm about as American as it gets." So the US won't rest at westernising the Middle East? They can also westernise aliens as well; and end up using them as propaganda tools.

Oh, and I've always hated the disguise of a pair of glasses.

But due to impressive trailers, and Zack Snyder and Christopher Nolan being on board, of course I had to sit up and notice. It gave me high hopes that the good sides of 'Superman' could be embodied in the film. Such as the positive message that can be given to people - that we can all be a superman and act bravely, no matter how small said act may be. 

However, with having the directors of 'Watchmen' and 'TDK' trilogy as the creative force of the film, it's obvious that 'Man of Steel' was going to be a lot more serious and darker than what we're used to. And this ends up being one of the film's biggest failings. The whole ridiculous premise of 'Superman' could be half-forgiven with the Christopher Reeve movies because they were camp and light-hearted. They knew that it was ridiculous. 'Batman' could get away with being more realistic (at least in a comic book sense). Superman cannot. 

Thus, what we are given is a joyless, po-faced origins story that drags on for at least half an hour and takes itself way too seriously. It's not helped by a hammy Michael Shannon performance as 'General Zod', who seems to spend most of his time turning around into a close-up, looking menacing and snarling direlogue such as "either you die! Or I die!" The amount of exposition and explaining of his evil plans doesn't make him anymore villainous either. Instead he just seems a bit pathetic and moany; an age-old bad guy who tells everyone what he's going to do, which of course means that we already know the outcome.

On the plus side, at least Henry Cavill was a convincing enough 'Superman'. His chiselled jaw, perfect hair cut and herculean body will probably make sure that he is blue tacked to a lot of teenaged girls bedroom walls. Other than that, he's not given an awful lot to do as 'Clark Kent', and is instead spending the majority of his performance pulling determined faces as talented VFX teams make him fight in bloated video game-like action sequences that last for far too long.

                                  He'd had a bit too much to drink at the work-do's fancy dress party

Considering that this is supposed to be an origins story, we don't really receive any new information or any different angles to what we already know. The origin is skipped past, and we only get glimpses of his childhood that look like they have been shot using Instagram; all of which that we have already witnessed in the trailers. 

In fact, the whole film is like a two-and-a-half-hour trailer. It never takes a rest to settle down on a scene and give any of the characters a quiet moment to develop. And because of this you find yourself not giving a shit about anyone involved. Even the unlucky ones of 'Metropolis' (basically New York) who are blown up for about 40 minutes of the film - something 'The Avengers' did better.

The moments that are supposed to feel epic thanks to Hans Zimmer's ear-assaulting score subsequently fails to resonate on an emotional or thrilling level. When so much is fitted into one text, it's hard to care and you'll begin to think about what you're going to have to eat when you get home.

One thing that definitely is missing - a bit of slow motion. The action is so quick that it's often difficult to know what is happening. And the hectic, hand-held style doesn't compliment the third dimension either (if you're desperate to give it a go, see it in good old 2D!) You'd be forgiven for not knowing that 'Man of Steel' was in fact directed by Zack Snyder, even though it is visually brilliant, but not groundbreaking. If you want a superhero film for 2013, you're best off giving Robert Downey Jr. your attention. 'Man of Steel' unfortunately feels as if Nolan has tried to turn 'Superman' into 'Batman'. It wants to be 'Batman Begins'. But after trying so hard, 'Batman' is still conclusively the superman of the DC Universe. 

* *  ½