Monday Movie Mania - Monster University

Our movie quota is a little low this summer, but we all decided we needed a break from packing up the house yesterday afternoon (not to mention both house A/C units were straining to deal with the 100+ heat here in Texas).

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SPOILERS!!


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Monster University is the second best of all the Pixar sequels (in my opinion, Toy Story 3 holds top spot). The POV is mainly from Mike this time. It's the story of why and how he pursued his dream of being the top scarer. Of course, he meets Sully and Randall in college.

It's not the obvious switch of Randall starting out as Mike's friend and roommate and Sully being his rival that's the attraction. Instead, Pixar turns this into a pretty funny and touching twist on Revenge of the Nerds.

Both Mike and Sully thrown out of the MU scare program after a fight between the guys results in the destruction of the dean's trophy. Mike plots to get back in, and super-jock Sully realizes the little green geek is his only chance to uphold his family's honor as noted scarers.

They manage to pull off their plan, but only by Sully cheating. Mike finds out, is totally furious, then does something incredibly stupid to try to prove his scare abilities to both himself and the dean.

Writing a prequel is rough because the audience knows how the story had to end. But it's fun to see how the boys turn into the monsters they become, and it's not quite how you expect, which is always a delight that Pixar delivers.

I'd give Monsters University a 9.5/10.