Monsters University!!!!

Monsters University.

The first thing you notice about this film is that yes it is the latest film from Pixar which of course already makes you want to watch it as you know it'll be great. But lets backtrack abit as we all know 'Cars 2' wasn't the greatest of successes as the ratings for it were really low and showed that Pixar was indeed fallible when it came to filmmaking. I have to say that this film is the total opposite of 'Cars 2' and is going to be a definite hit with people as who can resist the comedy duo we all fell in love with in 'Monsters Inc' of Mike and Sully.

Obviously if you've lived under a rock you won't know that this is a prequel to 'Monsters Inc', set ten or so years before the duo even met you first see Mike as a youngster getting off a school bus on a school trip at the Monsters Inc scare factory. A wide eyed Mike then enters one of the doors and impresses a scare monster and gains a hat and vows to become a scarer. 

Fast forward a few years and Mike is getting off another school bus but this time he is a college student and looking forward to learning how to be the best scarer in the monster world. As Mike and his room-mate Randall start classes they soon meet the ever so relaxed and all round party guy James P Sullivan who has the attitude that he's got nothing to worry about. 

As situations take a turn for the worse Mike and Sully join forces with the campus rejects and join their fraternity Oozma Kappa to compete in the scare games. As the group of six misfit students take on the scare games they soon realise they have bitten off more than they can chew. With the relationship between Mike and Sully still not becoming anything but amicable the group must learn to take advantage of their skills and try to work together. Will the group pull together and help save Mike and Sully? what will happen to their friendship? and how does it all end for Oozma Kappa?

With an ending that definitely stays true to the Pixar ethos that has run throughout their films in the past it is a heart warming story of friendship and how to make the best of any situation. It's interesting to see how Mike and Sully became the best of friends and also see how other characters like Randall change and become evil. Seeing a young tiny Mike and how his and Sully's furr and skin change in colour and how they age is clever and interesting to see on a big screen.

The animation is of course beyond incredible and you can tell Pixar spend alot of time working on textures, liquids, reflection, shadow and brightness to really make the characters pop and impress. With the setting being at a college you are able to see so many new and varied monsters that live in the monster world and see how they develop over the film. Of course the only downside for me is that their is no mention or image of little Boo from the first 'Monsters Inc' film which is a shame but obviously she wouldn't have been born yet. 

A clear triumph in my eyes from Pixar another strong emotive filled film that will have you hooked from the start. One downfall I think was a little bit too rushed and just thrown at the end is how Mike and Sully became to be at Monsters Inc and how they finally got their jobs working on the scare floor. A bit more consideration could have been taken into showing it abit more on screen as people might have thought it was the end credits.

8/10.

The Croods!!!!

The Croods.

The second animated film of the year for me and it's Dreamworks newest outing in The Croods featuring an array of of well known voice actors. This time round Dreamworks have decided to touch upon the story of a stoneage family who go through "the end" and the journey they take to survive and the family problems they encounter along the way as well.

So onto the film itself, as I described above it is about a family (The Croods) who as they put it are the last remaining human beings alive. Father of the family Grug (Nicolas Cage) is an overprotective dad who tells the family anything new is BAD and will kill them all if they do anything new at all. Mother of the family Ugga (Catherine Keener) is a typical mother who fusses over her family and makes sure they're all ok and keeps Grug in-line at times as well. Son Thunk (Clark Duke) is a typical teenager, he has hardly any sense at all and runs around without any thought in the world and is easily amused. Smallest child Sandy (Randy Thom) is an animalistic little kid who runs around and awesome speeds and is generally a childish character. The older member of the family and the mother in-law Gran (Cloris Leachman) is an old wise woman who always has the line "I'm still alive". And finally we have Eep (Emma Stone) who is an inquisitive girl who wants to do nothing more than to venture out of the cave and explore new things.

As the scene is set you see how frightened the family is of the outside world and how much the father figure states that new things are bad for them. As you see the family go on a hunt for a dinosaur egg to feed the family you see how each member works within the family.

But soon enough Eep sees a bright light pass the cave and decides to follow it and leaves the comfort of the cave and her family. soon enough she gets into trouble and that's when a saviour comes to her aide, Guy (Ryan Reynolds) saves her from being eaten and thrusts fire into the air saving her. As she talks to him she soon realises that her family is not alone in the world and that their are other people out there. As she narrowly just makes it back to the cave to her family with the help from her father Grug she tries to tell family members about who she has met.

As the family cave is destroyed and the threat of being eaten again they finally call upon the help of Guy who comes running in to save the day again. He shows the family members some new inventions like fire and shoes. As each family member learns new things about the world and their eyes are opened their is one person who is not buying this new lifestyle, Grug. 

As the family carries on trying to find shelter before "THE END" takes place the family must learn to trust new things, trust Guy and last of all to accept new things as their not all bad. What happens next I will leave for you to watch, will the family survive "THE END" or will they all stand by Grug and stick to the old ways?

Overall the film is entertaining......for little kids, for adults they will find the film a little bit flat and at times a little bit ridiculous. The voice acting is ok but in my opinion Nicholas Cage just doesn't have that animated film style voice he sounds out of place and just too dull a voice for a kids film. The storyline is to be desired, a simple yet quirky storyline it's fun at times but for most of the time it's just tedious. 

Visually the colours are great, the coloured landscapes and animals featured all show off the animators skills and the 3D for the film just adds more depth to the on screen animation. But don't expect anything deep, thoughtful and emotional like a Pixar movie because you're not going to get it from this film. What you do get is a fun, bright coloured, kids film that all children will truly enjoy and adults wish would be alot shorter.

5/10.