By Rebecca Vitkus
Junior, English Major
I can barely keep my eyes open. It’s 11:00 PM, and I wander into the movie theatre lobby, ready for the midnight premiere of Monsters University. I see a small army of children waiting in line, all giggling with excitement due to the ridiculous amounts of pre-movie popcorn, candy, and soda that has already been consumed.
“Back of the line, kids!” I yell impatiently. “I’ve been waiting 12 years to see this movie!” They parted like the Red Sea and bowed to me, clearly recognizing the number one Monsters fan that stood before them.
OK, maybe the night didn’t go exactly like this. Actually, it was way different than I expected. I walked into the theatre with my aunt to see the 8:00 Thursday night pre-showing of Monsters University. Due to the fact that it was at the same time as the NBA Finals, there were only five people in the whole theatre.
The fact that this movie was a prequel to 2001’s Monsters, Inc. rather than a sequel – meaning that my favorite character, Boo, would not make an appearance – already set me on edge. I was excited to finally see a new story with Mike and Sulley, everyone’s favorite monsters, but I was hesitant, as prequels (and sequels) rarely live up to their originals (Puss in Boots, for example). However, I was very pleasantly surprised. I wondered how Disney could pull off a movie about college life with a G rating, but the movie was both entertaining and family-friendly. From the development and growth of Mike and Sulley’s friendship, to their adventures in Greek life, right up to the point where we meet the monsters in the original movie, the story was filled with memorable moments and quotable one-liners. Of course, Disney communicated an important lesson in the movie, one of unexpected friendships and the belief that any dream can be achieved with persistence. The only criticism I have is that the final message (SPOILER ALERT!) tells that, even though the monsters were expelled from college and never graduated, they were still hired for their dream jobs. Now I know that this is obviously not supposed to be a non-fictional movie, and that it has quite the fairy tale ending, but I hope it doesn’t send out a message that diminishes the value of education and glorifies the monsters’ mischief.
Overall, the movie was definitely worth the wait. I laughed, I cried, and I am still hoping for a sequel to come out in the future. After the not-so-successful movies in Cars 2 and Brave, I am glad to announce that Disney Pixar is back! I hope you all – young, old, and in between, whether you saw the original or not – take the time to go out and see this movie. Just make sure you don’t step on any children when you push your way to the front !
UF PRISM 