I saw this movie about a week or so back. It was not on the top of my 'too see' list, but my otter talked me into it. I wanted to give myself time to digest it and write an honest review of it - so here it goes..

It's definitely better than Cars 2 or Brave, but that's not really saying much. (I don't care what the Academy says, Wreck-It-Ralph was the far superior movie last year, but that's another post) Even so, the first two-thirds of this movie seemed to be Pixar luring other campus/college movies down a dark alley, mugging them, and rummaging through their pockets for plot-points. It's all been done before, and except for a few well-handled scenes, you won't find much original here. Now, let's clarify - that's not to say this is not good nor entertaining, it's just not original. So for about an hour or more, we get a very well done, if rote, animated film about Sully and Mike during their college years. What saves this movie from being a "so-so" picture is the final third of the film. Once the story moves past the Scare Games, Pixar seems to recapture some of its former lustrous storytelling, throwing a few twists into the mix that one would not truly have expected. We know where there characters end up, and the movie seems so damned cliche we think we know the exact route they're going to take getting us there - so much so that when we suddenly veer off course it's a genuine (and pleasant) surprise. I've been avoiding talking about specific scenes to avoid spoilers for those who have seen it yet, but I do want to bring attention to one specific one. Toward the end, there is a scene with Mike and Sully by a lake. Even though this is a scene we all know is going - that HAS to - take place between these two characters, the writing and animation is so pitch perfect I would rank it as one of the best 5 scenes in any movie of the last 5 to 10 years. So part of me wants to believe that, with the final reel of this film, Pixar is righting the ship and pulling itself out of the doldrums. Only time will tell though. I thought Pixar nailed the ending to Monsters Inc with a simple word and a smile on Sully's face. They brought us a (honestly, rather unneeded) prequel to show us these character's back stories. The only question is - will we see them re-unite with Boo and see what the Monster World has become in the post-scream-fuel future? As long as they don't rip off The Brave Little Toaster like Toy Story 3 did, I might just be talked into sitting through it.