Any sequel (or in this case, prequel) of a childhood film is bound to become a huge deal. Especially because us 90's kids feel like we're growing up way too fast and thus we cling on to things that remind us of our past. So when Toy Story 3 and Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part II came out, we all went to the cinema, equipped with tissues and childhood teddies, and prepared ourselves for the waterworks. Monsters University is no different. With their demographics being the 90's kids in their late teens or early 20s, Pixar really got to the bottom of the problems rooted in our hearts.
Let's get to it:
Spoiler Alert.
Knowing the future of Mike and Sulley did not wreck Monsters University. On the contrary, this prequel becomes the missing puzzle piece in Monsters Inc. It starts out with Mike and Sulley and their first day of University; Mike emerging from humble beginnings, and Sully from a legacy. After a rocky start that ended with both of them dropped from the scare program, Mike and Sulley team up with a bunch of misfits (the Oozma Kappa fraternity) to compete in the Scare Games. Mike makes a deal with Dean Hardscrabble; she will re-admit him and the entire team to the scare program if they win, whereas if they lose, she will expel the him and Sulley. The games eliminate any team that places last in each round, and to everyone's disbelief, Oozma Kappa slowly lands their dorky asses to the finals against Roar Omega Roar, the toughest fraternity on campus. During the final battle, Oozma Kappa win the games, and the team are re-admitted to the scare program. However, Mike finds out that Sulley had sabotaged Mike's turn so that Mike would get a perfect score no matter what he did. Feeling guilty, Sulley tells the Dean what he did, and Mike, feeling betrayed, goes to the human world to prove himself. Trapped, Sulley attempts to save him, but before the two could return to their own world, the Dean shuts down the door to wait for the authorities. Mike and Sulley team up in order to power the door from the human world, thus creating a scream so intense that the portal emerged, and the two monsters arrive in the monster world safe and sound. Hardscrabble, unwilling to bend the rules, expel both of them, but not without words of wisdom by telling Mike that his boat is set for a different course.
What I love about Monsters University is how we all can relate to Mike. Sometimes, passion is just not enough. We are all born with different strengths and weaknesses, and even though we really want to do something, we just...can't. Of course, we all grew up being told that we can do whatever we set our minds to. But can we? We have physical limitations, don't we? Like how I cannot become a pilot because I don't have 20/20 vision, Mike cannot become a good scarer because he simply doesn't look scary enough. He can read all about scaring and become knowledgeable in the area, but he can never become a great scarer. It's just how things are sometimes. And that doesn't mean you should give up on your dreams, no, you should find a dream that you can achieve with what you have. In the end of Monsters Inc., instead of making the children scream, they make the children laugh. So although Mike couldn't scare, he knew damn well what he's able do instead.
God knows I've been having trouble with my own future. I don't know what I want to be, and I don't know if my university course is the right one for me. But these animated monsters have taught me that the course of your life will not always go exactly like you planned. You think that the only way to get to point F is through B, C, D, and E. But life tells you, "nope. we're going on a detour, motherfucker!" And you end up on point Y, or point G. But that's life. It's unpredictable, and you just have to see where it takes you. You might get there in days or years, or you might not get there at all. Life has a funny way of showing you exactly where you're supposed to be.
I give Monsters University an 8.5/10. Thank you Pixar for teaching me that I will get there. Slowly, maybe not somewhere I planned, but I will get there.
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