Posted on 11/02/2001 10:18:40 PM PST by Capitalist Eric
The wife took me out to see Monster, Inc.
Must admit, I was stunned by the absolutely seamless computer-generated movie. Good plot, was surrounded by little kids who adored it. As with Shrek, movie played on both adult and child levels, and was quite enjoyable.
My wife commented, they must have spent hours watching little kids, to accurately portray "Boo" (animated little girl) in the movie- was convincing, hilarious, and a joy to watch.
If you have kids, and want them to have a really good night out, I recommend it highly.
Comments from fellow viewers?
FReegards,
Disney, fan of butt thumpers and vendor of kiddie-crap, had to go outside Disney to partner with Pixar in order to get this level of quality in an animated film.
Highly recommended - it is at least as good as the original Toy Story, and is right up there with Bug's Life.
The opening cartoon was funny. But I noticed that for the first time in a long time I noticed the audience laughed out loud, really hard. Movie got a standing ovation at the end, I really believe that people were letting out a lot of the pent up emotion & fear of the past two months. Go see it - its a great, great film.
BTW, I liked Shrek but to me it was an IMMINENTLY forgettable movie. Sorry, I know that's counter the conventional wisdom, but although I enjoyed the movie, it had a bit too much bathroom humor (which I guess is what is meant when people say it was an "adult movie too"--although why adolescent humor makes it "adult" I'll never understand), and it was WAY too predictable. Talk about your formulaic script!
But I had read one review, and heard another on local talk radio, that both said "oh, Monsters, Inc. is a cute movie, but Shrek coming out on DVD is overshadowing it." And of course the obligatory "Shrek was for adults, too." (BTW if you want to see a fabulous animated film--though not so much CA as good, old-fashioned stop-action stuff a la Harryhausen, then see last year's Chicken Run).
So my expectations were lowered, and MAN! were they exceeded by a long shot!
Can't go into all the details that I'd like at this late our, but the scripting was fabulous, the tech was superb, the storyline was FAR, FAR, FAR from predictable--and given that this was an "alien" world that the creators made, they did some absolutely FABULOUS invention.
The climax of the movie, the scene with the characters swooping around the "door storage facility" was unbelievable. What incredible invention! Dropping through doors with grav working in different directions on each side, the detailed depiction of the location on the other side of each door, it was just mind-boggling. What's more, the entire scenario was as good an example of Science Fiction invention as you could read in the works of any great SF master you might name.
Lastly, the way they depicted "Boo", the tiny girl who made Big Trouble in Monsteropolis, was uncanny. Yes indeed, the animators of that charcter must have been family men and women. They had the mannerisms of your typical three-year-old don't to the tiniest detail.
One example of this was the scene where, after the big guy, Jimmy (played by John Goodman) gets her safely back on her side of the right door, she runs about showing him all her "stuff": her dolls, her puppets, her games, etc., swooping around the room and scooping them up to hand to him.
In short, this movie was a delight and a treasure, and every bit as monumental as the Toy Story offerings.
N.B. The "teaser trailer" of Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones, was pretty jazzy as well!
Sorry, I didn't edit properly. This should read "...if you want to see a fabulous animated film made wtih adults in mind...
It strongly reminds me of when I was a kid, going to the Saturday matinee, watching several cartoons in a row, with popcorn in hand.
Somehow, it's almost like time travel, for grown-ups.
We will be seeing it again, in the theater. My wife has given "the edict" to that effect, LOL!
FReegards,
My ex-wife has accused me time and time again of being overly emotional..and by golly, I thank God that I am.
Take your kids, take your loved ones...it's worth it.
What REALLY chapped my hide was listening to/watching the "America the Beautiful" montage prior to the film---wincing when they eliminated the verse "God shed His grace on thee".
Edward's chain, Southern CA, in case you're interested. I had been warned by other FReepers, and YEP...those slimeballs conveniently removed the verse in their quest for political correctness. Blech.
"Kitty..."
My 13 yo daughter and her friends went to see it last night for a friend's birthday party. She loved it!
I saw Shrek earlier this year, after following all of the hype on fan sites (yeah, I know, I'm a geek). I was actually disappointed in the film. Sure, it was humorous, but the humor was of a dark and rather cynical nature that seemed jarringly out of place in a children's movie. Even though it had many hilarious sequences in it, as well as top-notch animation, something was missing.
Then last night I saw Monsters, Inc. Not only was it funnier than Shrek, but tone was light, upbeat, clever and often subtle. One of those movies that you can enjoy several times over. Dreamworks scored a home-run of this sort with Chicken Run, but gave in to teenage-level humor and plot with Shrek. Pixar realizes that, without being cloying and sappy, you can have some good, clean, family oriented humor. Something that their parent company, Disney, forgot about two decades ago--everthing they have done lately is either sappy garbage like "The Tigger Movie" or is a one long bathroom joke "ha ha! he said 'poopyhead'!" movie like Max Keeble's Big Move.
I'm hoping that John Lassater realizes what gem he's created here, and further hope that Pixar breaks with the Mouse House when their contract is up. Disney has become a walking corpse, while Pixar is just growing up.
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