Classic Movie Review: Beavis and Butt-Head Do America (1996)

I was always a bigger fan of Beavis and Butt-Head's spin-off series Daria than the show this movie was based on. That is until I saw the movie that Mike Judge put them in when I was a teenager. Now I know what you're thinking, that this is a movie only teenagers will like, but that's not so. After revisiting it for the twentieth anniversary of it's release, Beavis and Butt-Head Do America is just as funny as it was then and it's still funny now that I am an adult.

Beavis and Butt-Head (Mike Judge) wake up one afternoon to find that their TV has been stolen. After looking around town for it, or a new one, they stumble across Muddy (Bruce Willis), a drunken thief who mistakes them for hitmen sent by an associate. Muddy wants them to travel to Las Vegas to murder his wife and retrieve a package from her. But the horny teenagers get confused and think he wants them to have sex with her instead. When they get there, however, Dallas (Demi Moore) decides to use them to her own end and have them transport a biological weapon to Washington DC. Of course this is unknown to the two boys and they are oblivious to the fact that ATF Agent Flemming (Robert Stack) has placed them on a most wanted list.

I'll admit that the jokes may seem juvenile, but they are still pretty funny. Agent Flemming's obsession with cavity searches for anyone and everyone regardless of their innocence ("Don't stop till you reach the back of their teeth") is hilarious. Especially since each order is given with the utmost seriousness. Beavis' poor reaction to sugar resulting in him turning into The Great Cornholio still works every time, despite the inherent silliness of the gag. And of course, who cannot like the pseudo-music video of The Red Hot Chili Peppers being turned into Las Vegas lounge singers doing their version of 'Love Rollercoaster'.

The main attraction of this movie for me is the amount of celebrity voices that the movie contains. Bruce Willis and Demi Moore do a fantastic job as the backstabbing husband and wife thief duo and Cloris Leachman) is hilarious as the old lady who thinks that Beavis and Butt-Head are just the sweetest things she has ever met. Greg Kinnear is fantastic as Flemming's offsider Agent Bork who is always to please his boss with the correct grammar. Cameos from Boyhood director Richard Linklater as a tour bus driver and David Letterman as Butt-Head's dad are small but perfect.

Right from the outset you know this movie is going to be different from other stoner comedies. Whether it's the two main characters destroying a city in their dreams or the opening titles being a homage to 70s cop shows, you never know what this one is going to throw at you, but whatever it is, you know you'll have a good time.

Sausage Party

Cartoons for adults have popped up more and more in recent years with TV shows like BoJack Horseman, Rick and Morty and Archer being really popular examples, so it makes sense that that popularity should spill over into movies. And who better to make such a movie than Seth Rogen and his crew of comedy friends. At first glance, the trailer makes Sausage Party look like the same old movie from these guys, but it is actually really funny and original.

The day in a supermarket begins with all the items singing a song about "The Great Beyond", a magical place where you go when one of the gods (humans) buys you and you can live in harmony with them. Frank (Seth Rogen) and his girlfriend Brenda (Kristen Wiig) are excited to be picked because of "Red, White and Blue Day" and they know that they will finally be together. Everything is going okay, until Honey Mustard (Danny McBride), who has returned from "The Great Beyond" and knows the truth, is put in the cart. He attempts suicide and as a result a whole bunch of items are thrown from the cart, including Frank, Brenda, Sammy Bagel, Jr (Edward Norton), Kareem Abdul Lavosh (David Krumholtz) and Douche (Nick Kroll). In the mess that results, Douche is severely injured (his nozzle is bent) and makes it his mission to take his revenge on Frank who just wants to get back to his shelf.

With all those characters, especially Douche, it sounds like Sausage Party is just filled with childish, infantile jokes that would only appeal to teenage boys. But it actually has a lot of jokes that go beyond that. A large chunk of the movie is dedicated to relationship between Kareem Abdul Lavosh and Sammy Bagel, Jr and is used as an allegory for the current Arab-Israeli situation (the Halal food was in their aisle first, but then the Kosher food just had to start taking over). There's actually a lot of this us and them mentality in the film that mirrors real life, everything from more land disputes (Firewater (Bill Hader) says that the supermarket used to be all Native American before other foods came in and took it away), historical genocides (the sauerkraut wants to eliminate all the juice) and even the blind acceptance of religious belief. It's not all real life, a lot of pop culture is made fun of too. My favourite was when the classic Meat Loaf song "I Would Do Anything For Love" is sung by, well, a meat loaf.

This is what we're doing to bacon? It almost makes me not want to eat it.

The characters in this are so fun to watch because special care has gone into creating nearly every single grocery item (both from a character and animation point of view). All the foods are the nationality that they represent, and while this can make for some cultural stereotypes, it's still pretty funny. Salma Hayek's lesbian taco is a bit too obvious but very fun to see (well, hear) such a big star in this role. The same goes for Edward Norton. I had no idea it was him, I actually thought it was Woody Allen. My favourite character was the villain Douche because his characterisation of a fraternity brother who just wanted to get juiced or jacked the whole time made complete sense. Another favourite was the Stephen Hawking style gum who had his own wheelchair and provided the heroes with vital information.

While Sausage Party is crass and vulgar at times, it's also really original. Who would've thought a movie about grocery items would be funny let alone evocative of history and current events (to be fair, it does gloss over these things). Overall, it's a top notch comedy and it's great to be able to go see how far animation has come without having to go to a movie for kids.

Zootopia

Disney knows it’s the king of anthropomorphic animation, and the company sticks to its strengths with the Byron Howard/Rich Moore helmed Zootopia. It might not be a Pixar feature, but Zootopia promises plenty of fun scenes and more than just one mystery beneath its surface.

In a world of talking mammals (not to be confused with the world of talking reptiles in Disney’s upcoming Reptilia) a small rabbit from the countryside, Judy Hopps (Ginnifer Goodwin) goes against the expectations of her carrot farming parents to become the first rabbit police officer. Judy travels to the massive city of Zootopia, where - much like when other young people first go out into the world - she inhabits a small apartment with noisy neighbours and realises her job isn't all it's cracked up to be.

Parking Officer Judy meets con-artist Nick Wilde (Jason Bateman) on one of her shifts, and immediately takes a dislike to him, given her previous experiences with foxes. After abandoning her post to pursue a thief, her unimpressed supervisor, Chief Bogo (Idris Elba) gives her one last chance; to solve a missing mammals case in 48 hours. With her job on the line, Judy discovers that Nick was one of the last known mammals to see the victim. Tracking Nick down, Judy convinces him to help her, teaching kids watching the movie a valuable lesson in blackmail.

Zootopia started off tooting the same ‘follow your dreams’ mantra that Disney has heralded for many years, which plagued the awful Tomorrowland, and to a much lesser extent Big Hero 6. Not that it’s a bad concept to be communicating the power of ambition to kids, but it does wear-out very quickly. Thankfully however, after the first act and when the story takes an investigative arc, Zootopia gets into gear. As always there are a smattering of jokes tailored just for adults - such as a well-handled series of references to The Godfather - but despite its PG rating, there’s not a lot that would go over kids heads.

There’s a decent amount of tension as the mystery unfolds - especially in some of the darker scenes - and elements of the plot are surprisingly relevant, touching on social and racial issues that are all the buzz right now thanks to the U.S presidential election, among other events. However, it does seem to push these themes a little too blatantly for my liking, and for a standout Disney film it still doesn’t reach the same level of emotional complexity of even an average Pixar film.

Animation wise though, you can see the influence of Pixar on the team at their sister studio, because Zootopia screams forth with vibrant, fluid imagery that perfectly captures the tone of Zootopia and its many districts. Whilst not revolutionary in style, the animation will have sucked you into the world even before Judy reaches the big city. Matching the visuals, we get well-rounded voice work from the entire cast, thanks to the talents of Ginnifer Goodwin, Jason Bateman, Idris Elba, J.K Simmons and many others, as well as witty dialogue from Howard and co-writer Jared Bush. The characters themselves are as diverse as their animal pedigree, pitting the overly-excited Judy against the grumbling Chief Bogo, the sly Nick against the weasley Duke Weaselton, and who couldn’t love Simmon’s Mayor Lionheart, easily *unimpressive Zorg accent* my favourite.

Zootopia may be pushing its values further than its story can take them, but it’s still a beautiful, well-acted, enjoyable family movie with just enough edge and mystery to keep it interesting.

The Good Dinosaur

Earlier this year Pixar came out with Inside Out, an emotional and creative journey that worked on so many different levels. Now for the first time ever, Pixar are releasing a second film in a single year with The Good Dinosaur, and it’s fair to say it has some pretty big footsteps to follow. 

65 Million years ago, deep into the asteroid belt, a collision sends an asteroid hurtling towards Earth, destined to make a significant impact on the future of the planet. However it passes over safely, nothing more than a glint in the eyes of the dinosaurs. After millions more years of evolution, dinosaurs have started to build a life for themselves, cultivating land and learning to speak English, naturally. Underneath the claw-tooth mountains, two Apatosaurus, Henry (Jeffrey Wright) and Ida (Frances McDormand) have built a homestead and are farming corn. They give birth to three children, Libby (Maleah Padilla), Buck (Marcus Scribner) and Arlo (Raymond Ochoa), the well-meaning but cowardly runt of the litter. 

By completing challenging chores around the farm, Libby and Buck soon “earn their mark”, a mud-print on the family’s corn silo which becomes a coming-of-age signifier and a seemingly unachievable goal for Arlo. Soon though, he gets his chance when the family’s corn supply is being eaten by a ‘critter’ and Arlo is tasked to capture and kill it. When the critter turns out to be a feral human caveboy (Jack Bright), Arlo lets him go. However Arlo’s decision ultimately costs him a loved one and lands him lost, way down the river, his fate almost certainly sealed and with only the feral caveboy - which he later names ‘Spot’ - as company. 

As anti-Disney as I am, it’s impossible to ignore a Pixar film when one comes out; because for one, they’re almost always original and nuanced, and also because they only come around in a blue moon. Well, they used to anyway. Under their new road-map plan for upcoming films, the Pixar schedule is getting increasingly condensed which makes me worry about the quality of the releases, and was certainly a major consideration when I went in to see The Good Dinosaur. As much as it may look like a film tailored solely to kids, Pixar has once again built a story that brings something to all ages. There are jokes here that will fly straight over kids heads, something clearly evoked to me through the running commentary of the toddler-packed screening I attended. “Why are they happy? Why are they sad? Are both my eyes crying now dad?”, it’s as hilarious as it is distracting so keep that in mind when choosing a time to go see this if you’re a childless adult like myself with nothing better to do. 

The plot itself is fairly straightforward and as such lacks some of the emotional and conceptual depth of other Pixar films, however it makes up for this with its cute story of an unconventional friendship and a dinosaur that just wants to get home. For a significant part of the story the film takes on a western motif - most likely to keep the dads in the audience entertained - and this was probably the funniest section of the film for me. I had never considered the fact that T-Rex’s kinda look like they’re riding invisible horses. Look I get amused easily alright. Spot, the rabid human of the film actually kinda reminds me of The Feral Kid from The Road Warrior - although I’m not sure if that’s where the inspiration comes from - and for a non-speaking role, the character is surprisingly nuanced, a testament to Pixar’s understanding of the subtleties of movement.

If the fairly colourful, surreal visuals of Inside Out weren’t the revelation in animation technology you always look for in a Pixar film, then this will absolutely make up for it because The Good Dinosaur is utterly beautiful, we’re talking photo-realistic at times. However as staggering as that is, the style is limited to the backgrounds/environment, whereas the dinosaurs and other animals come off as cartoony. This makes for a kinda cute contrast but it probably could have been executed better as at times it becomes slightly distracting and jarring. 

The Good Dinosaur is not the greatest Pixar film, but it’s still definitely worth seeing. The story isn’t as original as I’d hoped but it achieves a lot in a short running time and manages to tailor itself towards children and adults alike. The stunning visuals and joy of seeing Sam Elliott as a T-Rex alone more than make up for the cost of admission.

Penguins of Madagascar

Animated children's movies have to walk a fine line between entertaining the kid's that they are aimed at and not boring the parents who have to take them. But what happens when one of these movies tip ever so slightly in the favour of the parents? Whilst I'm not saying that Penguins of Madagascar will bore kids, the adult to child joke ratio has just a few more adult jokes in there.

The elite unit of penguins, Skipper (Tom McGrath), Kowalski (Chris Miller), Rico (Conrad Vernon) and Private (Christopher Knights), break into Fort Knox to steal the last remaining packets of Cheese Dibbles, their favourite snack. Here they are kidnapped by Dave (John Malkovich), an evil penguin who has it in for the penguins. They are rescued by the North Wind, another elite team (who are just better funded) led by grey wolf Agent Classified (Benedict Cumberbatch).

This movie has plenty of silly escapades that will keep the kids happy; a gondola chase through Venice, the penguins falling out of a plane looking for a soft landing and many more jokes along this line, but there are some just hilarious ones for adults too. The first five minutes of the film is a nature documentary narrated by Werner Herzog (who breaks the fourth wall and appears as part of a documentary crew), the break into Fort Knox is lifted perfectly from Goldfinger and Dave gives his squid minions orders by naming celebrities ("Hugh, Jack, man the cannons" and "Drew, Barry, more power" are especially good examples).

The voice talents of some big names also make the film enjoyable and its fun to try and guess who they are. John Malkovich is an obvious one (as I have said in the past). Benedict Cumberbatch makes his third appearance in a big end of the year movie and plays his part superbly, as do Ken Jeong, Annet Mahendru and Peter Stormare who voice the remainder of the North Wind.

Verdict: A great movie to watch with or without kids, if only to hear Benedict Cumberbatch repeatedly say pengwings, as he can't pronounce it properly.

Big Hero 6

    "This may undermine my non-threatening huggable design."

Another year, another superb Disney Animation. Big Hero 6 strangely emerges as Disney's response to the critical and commercial successes of The Lego Movie and Guardians of the Galaxy, and steals the hearts of audiences in the post-Christmas movie release boom.

Hiro Hamada is a techno-genius 14-year old high-school graduate making a bad reputation for himself in the underground robot fighting circuit of San Fransokyo, a Japan-ified interpretation of San Fransisco. After being arrested for his behaviour, his college-age elder brother Tadashi attempts to coerce Hiro to enroll at his college by showing him the laboratory he works in. Hiro is amazed by the amazing inventions that his brother, his friends and mentor all create, and is inspired to join the university's science department. After meeting the sweet Honey Lemon, independent GoGo, excitable Wasabi, man-child Fred and the supportive Dr. Callaghan. Tadashi then introduces Hiro to his latest robot, Baymax, a white, inflated humanoid balloon surrounding a robotic skeleton that is built as a cuddly all-in-one medical unit. In an attempt to impress Dr Callaghan at a science fair and gain admittance to the university Hiro develops a horde of micro-robots controlling by a neural headband and after a magnificent performance is approached by both Callaghan and technological magnate Alistair Krei. After rejecting Krei's offer the building is set alight and Tadashi dies attempting to rescue Callaghan from the fire. In a grief-stricken state Hiro discovers Baymax in his brothers room and the two investigate the fate of Hiro's microbots and Tadashi's death. After they are confronted with a Kabuki-masked villain who is controlling the micro-bots, Hiro forms a superhero team by adapting the technologies that his brothers friends were developing, and employing them onto his team.

In typical Disney and Pixar style, the film is directed by a duo, Dom Hall and Chris Williams, whose work at Disney is most prominently as writers for many of their traditionally animated films, though Williams also co-directed Bolt. Being a Disney animated film, Big Hero 6 is fast, witty and vibrant in colour and design. The film works as an excellent slap-stick comedy wherein Hall and Williams, and their editor Tim Merterns (Wreck-It Ralph, Tangeled) display an enviable taste for comic timing with lingering shots repeatedly used for outstanding comic effect, and Baymax rivaling Dave Bautista's performance in Guardians as a hilarious comic foil through his literal interpretation of the world around him. The characters, both main and support, are all wonderfully animated and voiced, with Baymax, Tadashi and Aunt Cass emerging as crowd-pleasers. The action is fast and frantic, but always clear and precise, with appropriate attention given to each hero. The villain and his plot, while certainly nefarious, are nevertheless lacking the depth seen in the rest of the film, as their motivation is nearly absent for three-quarters of the movie and their deisgn is minimal.

Much like the popular Guardians of the Galaxy from earlier this year, Big Hero 6 is an even looser adaptation of an obscure Marvel comic about a superhero team, and they do battle against a horde of what amounts to be semi-sentient Lego blocks, so in some ways the films intentions are fairly unsubtle. In contrast, the internal themes of the film are revenge and grief, and how they shape the actions of people who are lost in those emotions. Hiro is absolutely lost in grief in the wake of Tadashis death and as such, when given the opportunity for revenge, he is as single-minded. The film at times addresses this as a side-effect of puberty, but overall it presents a neat and practical character arc for Hiro because these emotions change him, as well as other characters. The film's dynamic and diverse cast also set it aside from other animated features, with three Asian-American major characters, one black and one possibly Latino (at least the voice actress is) in a city depicted in a cultural mash-up. This shows a maturation of design for Disney that probably has nothing at all to do with appealing to the fastest growing cinematic audience in China. It's a good thing likely done for the wrong reasons.

That being said, Big Hero 6 lacks the thematic and tonal depths that'll resonate with adult audiences in the way that Pixar films like Up!, Finding Nemo, and The Incredibles do, but instead teenaged audiences should walk away supremely satisfied, as will kids.. While the villain is quite flat, the setting, animation, and character arcs are pretty excellent, the action and comedy live up to the high standards of these films, and it's impossible to walk away from this movie without a smile plastered on your face. Big Hero 6 leaves itself open to sequels and they would surely be welcome.

War Movie Month: Grave of the Fireflies (1988)

The effect of war on a civilian population, particularly children, is a difficult, yet  important subject and, one which is explored in Isao Yakahata's Grave of the Fireflies, A Studio Ghibli classic.

Seita (Tsutomu Tatsumi) and Setsuko (Ayano Shiraishi) are siblings living in Kobe towards the end of World War II. After the U.S firebombs the city, much of Kobe is left in ashes. The children's mother (Yoshiko Shinohara) is horribly burnt in the attack, and soon the children are left on their own in the world. They live with an aunt (Akemi Yamaguchi) for a while but after she accuses them of not pulling their weight, they move into an abandoned shelter by themselves. Whilst the war continues around them, they scavenge together what food they can find, and light the cavernous shelter with fireflies. 

When picking out films to review for the war month, Grave of the Fireflies didn't immediately stand-out. But the effect of a Total War such as WWII on civilians, many of which were caught up in the almost-necessary patriotism of the time, is just as important as those fighting on the front, but unfortunately not many films attempt to tackle with the issue. Grave of the Fireflies, however, doesn't hold back in this respect. The tale of this brother and sister, stuck in the middle of a war, with just each other, remains one of the most moving stories I've encountered in a film, especially in animation.  It's an emotionally challenging film to watch and as such, has a profound effect on each viewing.

Artistic styles in animation, particularly anime and the works produced by Studio Ghibli, differ greatly, and are not necessarily the most ideal medium to deliver an honest look at the horrific nature of war, but with Grave of the Fireflies, there's a certain gracefulness to the scenes, that connect the characters with the audience on an emotional level, and in turn, make the story of these two lovable siblings, attempting to survive in the most trying of scenarios, just that much more heart-breaking.

Having only ever viewed Grave of the Fireflies in Japanese, which sadly, I don't understand (thank you subtitles!), it's still easy to appreciate the nuances of the language, particularly when applied to these two innocent children. Tatsumi brings a boyish charm to Seita which draws attention to the fact that he's really still just a kid, but is left responsible for his fragile little sister, and Shiraishi (herself only six when making the film) perfectly emphasizes the tragic purity of Setsuko.

Grave of the Fireflies is simple in form, but delivers a beautiful and harrowing tale, a heart-breaking eye opener to the substantial effect of war on civilians, and as such, ranks highly in the great anti-war films. It is, in my opinion, the greatest work produced by Studio Ghibli thus far, and is certainly a contender for the most powerful animated feature ever conceived. A truly moving piece of cinema.

Critic Roger Ebert shares his views on 'Grave of the Fireflies'

Robin Williams Tribute Month: Aladdin (1992)

This is by far my favourite Disney movie (with all respect to The Lion King, but this movie is hilarious) and that has to do entirely with Robin Williams performance as not one, but two characters.

For those not familiar with the plot at this stage (the story is based on a very old Arabic folktale), Aladdin (Scott Weinger) is a poor street rat who dreams of being rich like the Sultan of Agrabah. After being arrested and thrown into the dungeon when meeting Princess Jasmine (Linda Larkin), Aladdin is coerced into helping the evil Vizier Jafar (Jonathan Freeman) infiltrate the Cave of Wonders, which is filled with treasure. In this cave there is a lamp that is considered a great treasure.

I should point out how perfectly evil Freeman's performance is in this movie. As a kid I was terrified of the character of Jafar and he has a perfect sidekick in the form of Iago (Gilbert Gottfried). The art design for Jafar is amazing that it can still make me shudder at the sight of him as I watch it now.

It's at this stage that we meet the most memorable character of the movie; Genie (played superbly by Robin Williams). The entirety of Williams' performance is ad-libbed, after he recorded one performance as per the script, he was allowed to improvise all the dialogue, which is ultimately what was used. The animating team then worked the character around this voice work. This has resulted in a performance that is filled with pop culture references that go completely over any child's head, but once you grow up, you find yourself laughing at every single thing that comes out of his mouth.

There's a theory floating around that I think makes the viewing of this movie even more hilarious. At the start of the film we are introduced to a merchant (also voiced by Williams), who tries to sell the audience a lamp. The theory goes that this merchant made up the story to sell the lamp and thus inserted himself in the story as the Genie. This makes a lot of sense, especially when you look at the dimensions of the palace in Agrabah in comparison to the rest of the city.

Speaking of the city of Agrabah, the animation is amazing to look at. Not only are all the character animations are beautiful, but also the designs of static backgrounds are fantastic. In other animated movies of this time, the backgrounds normally were one-dimensional and lifeless, but these backgrounds are dynamic and colourful. This combined with the amazing early CGI defines the look of the film.

The last aspect that I want to talk about is the music. This movie has the best songs out of any Disney movie (sorry again, The Lion King). The songs are memorable and easy to sing along with. They are all very funny and/or tender and sweet.

Verdict: This Disney movie is a hilarious display of Robin Williams improvisation techniques and I recommend everyone watch it again immediately.

The Lego Movie

The Lego Movie takes the family film to a whole new level. Not only is it fantastically self-aware and satirical, it has jokes that will please the whole family. Back this up with a huge and amazing cast, as well as a great soundtrack by Devo's Mark Mothersbaugh with songs that will get stuck in your head long after you finish watching.

The story centres on Emmet (Chris Pratt), a regular construction worker who loves to fit in and follow the rules. One day after his shift finishes, Emmet gets entangled in a plot to destroy the world by the evil villain and president Lord Business (Will Ferrell), who plans to use a relic known as Kragle (which turns out to be Krazy Glue missing some letters). Emmet is mistaken to be the Special and taken by Wyldstyle (Elizabeth Banks) to the blind wizard Vitruvius (Morgan Freeman), who tells Emmet that he is the chosen one to take down Lord Business.

The best jokes in this film come mainly from the movie's characters self awareness that they live in a world made of Lego. Emmet cannot build things without an instruction manual of which there are several big ones in the construction yard (the kind that come with all Lego sets). There are also references to many famous Lego sets of the past 40 years, including the famous Classic Space line of the early 80s.

Also there are a great number of parodical and satirical jokes. Some of these are references to real first world problems (# not included) such as exorbitant prices for cups of coffee. Others are very funny in-jokes aimed at the film industry, such as the relationship between Superman, voiced by Channing Tatum, and Green Lantern, voiced by Jonah Hill (both Tatum and Hill starred in 21 Jump Street).

There are also a great number of cameos aside from the two aforementioned. These include Shaquille O'Neal, Will Forte, Liam Neeson, Will Arnett as Batman and one of my favourite actors (if you read my blog regularly, you'll be well acquainted with my affinity for) Charlie Day.

The animation in the film is also amazing. It is done in a way that looks like it is stop-motion capturing whilst still being computer generated. Apart from some real objects that appear in the film, everything is made of actual Lego pieces that come in the sets. Toward the end of the film there are some life action scenes that work really well and don't interrupt the flow when they cut back to the animation.

Verdict: A really funny and smart film that will appeal to everyone.

Monsters University

I was 10 when Monsters, Inc. came out. Twelve years later, I'm studying at university and this movie comes out. It's great how life comes full circle. I should note that I was the oldest person in the theatre watching this (who didn't get dragged along by a child at least).

The story tells of how James P. Sullivan (John Goodman) and Mike Wazowski (Billy Crystal) became best friends at university years before they were the best scare team at Monsters, Inc. Their introduction to each wasn't smooth sailing, however. Whilst they are both in a scare class, they get thrown out of the program by Dean Hardscrabble (Helen Mirren) for having a fight. Together they figure out that they can back into the course by competing in the Scare Games, a group of challenges for fraternities and sororities.

I feel as though this isn't really a kids movie, as the majority of the jokes are aimed at a mature audience but at the same time aren't crass. Charlie Day's (It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia) character, Art, is an obvious stoner type and the film also lampoons the hazing process that takes place in fraternities (there's a great documentary by Todd Philips if you want to know more about that, Frat House). At one stage during the film, the kid behind me started crying.

John Goodman and Billy Crystal were okay in their roles, but since this film takes place earlier than the original film, I thought maybe some younger voices wouldn't have hurt, but since it's only voice acting I don't think anyone would really care.

The other voice cameos are quite a surprise. Apart from the aforementioned Helen Mirren, there is Aubrey Plaza (Parks and Recreation), Alfred Molina (Raiders of the Lost Ark) and Dave Foley (The Kids in the Hall). And of course I get excited when Charlie Day is in anything.

The ending of the film was a bit of let down to me as well. Both Mike and Sully's career within the Monsters, Inc. corporation is crammed into two or three minutes at the end of the film. They could have just left that out all together.

It does kind of bug me that Pixar has so much potential from their roots as innovators for originality, but now I feel as though they're doing the same things over and over (the soon to be released Planes is a perfect example).

Verdict: A decently funny prequel that could have been stronger in terms of story, but will suffice for kids and adults alike.

Also, a bonus if you live in either the UK or Australia (these are the only two countries I know of at present). Prior to the movie actually starting, there is a screening of The Blue Umbrella, a charming love story of two umbrellas that will tug at the heartstrings.