Weekly Box Office and Film Discussion Thread

[Oscarfan]

I'm looking forward to M.U. One of my friends at school did point something out to me though: Is there any reason to root for Mike and Sully in this, when in MI they just become arrogant for being top scarers, which becomes their character development for the movie?

 

[Muppet fan 123]

Not exactly understanding your question, but...
Yes. The Mike and Sully relationship in this movie is terrific. I loved seeing how they became friends by being nemesis earlier in the movie. They tied in so many things that no one would've asked before. When you see the movie you'll know what I'm talking about.

I like that they re-used some of Randy Newman's fantastic original soundtrack to MI here as well. Another great callback to the original.

 

[Drtooth]

I'm not reading the rest of the review due to spoilers, but..

Just got back from Monsters University:
Did Monsters Inc. ever need a sequel? No. It could've stood as a stand-alone film until the end of days, but instead, Pixar decided to take the Monsters franchise one step further, and produced this incredible (and extremely unnecessary prequel to the film!)

Monsters Inc was one of the movies that Disney was going to sequel out from under Pixar back when Pixar was about to leave after Cars. And indeed Pixar decided to make their own Monsters Inc sequel when they came back. I'm glad they decided on a prequel vs a sequel, as Pixar agreed that a sequel will find a way to negate the sweet ending of the first film. Supposedly, Disney's treatment was that Boo was grown up, Mike and Sully decide to give her a visit in the human world (which sounds sweet enough), but the film would devolve into essentially the first movie in reverse, with the humans freaking out about the monsters.

Meanwhile, Boom comics did a nice little sequel to the film, tying it up with the Toy Story universe. That Jesse doll that was sort of hidden in the first movie? It was very crucial to the plot. If I can remember, Randal, Watternoose, and a kid who totally isn't Sid from Toy Story (except he totally is) team up for a massive conspiracy. It was pretty good.

 

[Muppet fan 123]

Was that the one where all the supplies were stolen, and Mike is framed for it? I haven't really read the books yet, but I've read the samples in the back of Muppet Snow White.

I made sure not to include any spoilers in my posts, so you're probably safe,. although I did reference something that happens in Monsters Inc. (I assume you've already seen that one, right?)

 

[Drtooth]

I'm looking forward to recursive call backs to something that didn't happen yet.

Personally, the fact that Randal is in the movie and wearing glasses was a huge spoiler for me. I shouldn't have looked at that fruit snack box.

 

[Muppet fan 123]

I'm looking forward to recursive call backs to something that didn't happen yet.

Personally, the fact that Randal is in the movie and wearing glasses was a huge spoiler for me. I shouldn't have looked at that fruit snack box.

I don't recall that being a spoiler at all...I don't think his glasses play any integral part in the story-line, besides the fact that he's wearing them. It's like Mike's retainers.

But as usual, I do suggest you completely stop watching all trailers and clips to avoid spoilers. I made sure to not watch any footage from this movie, besides the teaser and one trailer clip. The trailers are no indication of the movie, by the way. Once the movie begins, you'll just see.

 

[Muppet fan 123]

Again: Non spoiler.

Don't be fooled! Just becuase this movie is before the actual story of MI, doesn't mean it works well just as a stand-alone film. So, if you haven't seen Monsters Inc. yet, make sure to see it before seeing MU.
Lot of great hidden callbacks, and plus the story-plot might not make sense if you don't know how the Monster world works.

Hopefully, we'll start the MU discussion here tomorrow. I hate waiting for the world to see it!

 

[Oscarfan]

Not exactly understanding your question, but...

My friend's theory is basically this: In most stories, characters must overcome any sort of flaws they have. In Monster's Inc., Mike and Sully are on their high horse, all because they're the best scaring team and are about to break the record and as the movie progresses, they lose that arrogance. Monster's U obviously has them becoming friends, by my friend believed that there's no point to root for them in this movie, because we know their going to become vein jerks in the next one.

 

[Muppet fan 123]

I never saw them as vein jerks in the movie, but I understand what you mean now.

Well, I don't want to say anything about the rivalry in the story, since I don't want to spoil it, but I think you will end up rooting for them in this story,
The new characters are great, and so is the story. The fact that I know how their future will end up doesn't matter very much in the movie. The main fact is how everything came to be. It all works out in the end.
Like I said, if you enjoyed Monsters Inc. I can guarantee you will most probably enjoy Monsters University.

If you go: Let me know if you see a trailer for Pixar's next film "The Good Dinosaur". My screening only showed a short ad for Planes (still not excited) and the Pixar short: The Blue Umbrella. (Which was OK. But the animation was incredible!)

 

[Drtooth]

I wouldn't know if I want to root for your trailer... I got Turbo. Which is a worse film, it looks like, but it doesn't have Dane Cook in it, so it's at least better in that aspect. There's something about Turbo which I'll mention after this.

I just came back from it and it was freaking amazing. It was the best thing Pixar has done since Toy Story 3. Sure, I dug Cars 2, and I liked Brave despite the flaws and behind the scenes politics making the movie almost hypocritical. I mean, I am a little bit biased since MI is one of my favorite Pixar films and Mike is my favorite Pixar character... even more than Frozone, Dug the dog, and Buzz Lightyear.

So, Spoilers of course...

There's so much to gush about in the movie, but considering the Turbo trailer before it, the thing I guess I love most is the message. Instead of the plastic, inorganic "You can be anything in the world, even something that doesn't make any earthly sense, because you're super special" message they shove into kid's movies, this one had a very bittersweet, realistic, but not at all negative in tone one. That moral is, you may think you're going to become something greater in life. You can try as hard as you might, and want it a million times more than anyone else, and even then you might not make it. You might even fail at it. But you can surprise yourself and be great at something else, sometimes something similar. But you have to work very hard at it.

Oscarfan's friend is right. Mike and Sully are arrogant. But they earned it. Pixar successfully subverted the lamest college movie cliche there is. The Underdogs don't actually win. Mike and Sully got kicked out of college at the end. I didn't see that coming at all. They get work at Monsters Inc at the lowest levels possible and work their way up. The film really surprised me there. Of course, being a prequel, you kinda know things are going to turn out alright anyway.

Now, there were things that I kinda wish were in the film. They're not exactly disappointments at all. That's too strong a word. But I kinda wish they did more with Randal. I kinda pictured him being the victim of severe bullying somehow, and that his student project would have been that scream extractor thing from the first movie. But that's what you get for piecing things together through small amounts of information. Other than that, seems some more prime Randal stuff could've been cut.

Also, I kinda wish Fungus was in it, but that's not make or break at all. However, I did hear that Kelsey Grammar was going to play Watternoose. I guess they cut his role out of the movie before that. It really didn't need him anyway. He did have a cameo as a picture, though. I was far more disappointed by Zurg not having much of a role in TS3.

Overall, a great film. MI can stand alone, definitely, but Pixar made a prequel that's actually quite good (a feat in and of itself). And that Carrie sequence? Brilliant. A very brilliant turn around on that one.