Monsters Inc
Review by By Clint Morris
 When
I was young, I could have sworn a monster lived in my closet.
Or maybe it was under the bed. Regardless, it was there. I'm
sure you too had the night light on at one stage to scare
off the unwelcome visitors, or even better, Mum and Dad sitting
beside your bed until you would go to sleep or the monsters
would disappear, whatever happened first.
The fear of the shadows or sinister presence under the bed
has played on children's minds for years and now, thanks to
the creative geniuses at Pixar - responsible for "Toy
Story" and "A Bugs Life" - we get to find out
just what exactly is going bump in the night.
Cinema has the answer. Monsters are regulars to the darkened
closets of children. Their survival depends on it actually.
In the world of the Monsters, it's necessary to harness the
screams of the kids - because it powers the monster cities.
Some die-hard scare-tactic training is in order though, because
Children are becoming harder and harder to frighten.
The forbidding monsters work in two long rows inside a hangar-like
factory, where the closet doors are lowered one by one into
their workstations. Down comes a door, in goes the monster,
Aaaaaaaaah!" goes the child, out comes the monster with
a newly filled tube, and up goes the door to be replaced by
the next door on the assembly line.
Sulley - a big furry Blue Monster with a top ranking statue
as a scarer - and his sidekick Mike Wazowski - a one-eyed
and spindly legged oddity - are regulars in kids bedrooms,
and never have they crossed the line. That line is getting
touched by one of their presumably toxic kiddies, so rule
1 is don't touch the kids or anything attached to them. No
surprise then that Sulley accidentally frees a small girl
named Boo into his monstrous existence, giving him and Mike
the terrifying task of hiding her, while at the same time,
funnily enough, being frightened of her.
Sulley, unavoidably, ends up getting attached to his little
human friend and stamps himself as her responsible guardian,
the man who will help her re-enter her world. That is, if
he can get around the devious Randall, and his company boss
Waternoose.
"Monsters Inc" is a lot of fun. The foregrounds
and backgrounds are exquisite - so exquisite you'll be excused
for missing some of the more underplayed gags. The characters
have been inked magnificently, every monster completely different,
with their own wacky frame and physical mark. Sulley is especially
entertaining. Voiced by John Goodman, the character is milked
with expressiveness and personality. He is so large and lovable,
that in many of the scenes we're totally oblivious to the
fact characters like Mike and Randall are vying for your laugh-box's
attention too.
"Monsters Inc" is simply divine. It doesn't push
any boundaries - in neither animation nor storyline - but
it offers an enjoyable cocktail of laughs, life lessons, adventure,
memorable characters and insight into a kid's existence. Who
knows, children might even turn off the night light and stare
at the closet hoping for a loveable oaf like Sulley to come
creeping out. Might have worked for me too, but unfortunately
the movie comes along 20-something years too late.
4.5 out of 5
Monsters Inc
Australian release: Commences December 26th
Cast: John Goodman, Billy Crystal, Steve Buscemi, Jennifer
Tilly, James Coburn.
Website: Click
here
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