Film review: 'Monsters University' is an innovative idea marred by ordinary premise

Film: Monsters UniversityCast: Billy Crystal, John Goodman, Steve Buscemi, Helen Mirren, Peter Sohn, Joel Murray, Sean P HayesDirector: Dan ScanlonRating: **With animation films making massive leaps not just with technology and graphics, but also getting better writers and coming up with interesting scripts, Monsters University seems like a lame effort. A sequel to the 2001 smash hit Monsters, Inc., the film revolves around Mike (Crystal) and Sulley (Goodman) going to a scaring university to come out and be more menacing than they are perceived. While the idea seems innovative, the premise is nothing more than ordinary. It is the Pixar version of the 1984 classic Revenge of the Nerds. While the prequel worked because every character stood apart from the other, its follow up seems like a hurried attempt to dish out as many gags as possible in the given time frame. Both Crystal and Goodman are on top of their game, but their dialogues sound uninspiring. We wish the writers had let them improvise and come up with smarter lines. Helen Mirren is an absolute delight even when she's not on screen in her voice of the headmistress. Seems like the studio is struggling to come up with new material. We suggest they look at their archive and derive inspiration from some of their earlier work. Monsters University isn't downright avoidable, but it is a sore thumb that sticks out in an otherwise illustrious catalogue.