MONSTERS, INC. | FAMILY MOVIE REVIEW INFORMATION FOR PARENTS AND KIDS

"MONSTERS, INC."
(2001) (voices of John Goodman, Billy Crystal) (G)

QUICK TAKE:: Comedy: In a place where monsters scare kids as a business to collect screams that power their world, two of them must deal with a young human girl who's entered their domain and threatens to upset their way of life.

PLOT:

At Monsters, Inc. it's the job of a wide variety of monsters to enter children's bedroom closets at night, scare them, and then collect their screams that provide the power for Monstropolis. According to the crab-like CEO, Henry J. Waternoose (voice of JAMES COBURN), however, human kids have become harder to frighten, and thus the monsters are facing an energy shortage.

Thus, he wants James "Sulley" Sullivan (voice of JOHN GOODMAN), the top "scarer" at Monsters, Inc. to teach the new recruits how to spook children. A furry, blue-haired monster, Sully is good at his job - thanks in part to the prep work done by his assistant and roommate, Mike Wazowski (voice of BILLY CRYSTAL), a squat, one-eyed green monster - but now faces competition from Randall Boggs (voice of STEVE BUSCEMI), a scheming, eight-legged creature who can turn invisible.

As their competition intensifies, they all know the guiding principle that children are toxic, contact with them is very dangerous and that they're never, ever, to allow any of the children to cross through the closet door and back into the Monster, Inc. factory. Yet, that's exactly what happens when the cranky office manager, Roz (voice of BOB PETERSON), demands that Mike turn in his late reports. Since he has a date with the Medusa like Celia (voice of JENNIFER TILLY), Sulley decides to do the work for him.

When he goes to retrieve the paperwork, however, he notices one closet door that's been left on the factory floor. Going to investigate, he inadvertently allows a young girl, Boo (voice of MARY GIBBS), to cross over into his world. Scared of the girl who sees him as just a big furry plaything that she calls "Kitty," Sulley panics and tries to figure out what to do.

Getting Mike involved with his new problem, the two try to hide the girl and get her back into her world before anyone sees her with them, all while uncovering a diabolical plot that Randall has hatched.

WILL KIDS WANT TO SEE IT?: It's a good bet that many will

WHY THE MPAA RATED IT: G: For not containing material to warrant a higher rating.

CAST AS ROLE MODELS:: Whether kids view animated characters as role models is debatable, but here's a quick look at their major characteristics:
SULLEY is the top "scarer" at Monsters, Inc., but really is a softie at heart who falls for Boo while trying to get her back into her world.
MIKE is his wisecracking but cynical assistant and roommate who thinks they're in a world of trouble after coming into contact with Boo.
RANDALL is another monster and Sulley's chief competition as top "scarer." An eight-legged, scheming creature, he has a plan to take over the scream industry.
CELIA is a receptionist at Monsters, Inc. with Medusa-like hair who has a thing for Mike.
HENRY J. WATERNOOSE is the crab-like CEO of Monsters, Inc. who's concerned about the energy shortage stemming from kids being more difficult to scare nowadays and will do anything to solve it.

CAST, CREW, & TECHNICAL INFO

HOW OTHERS RATED THIS MOVIE

Curious if this title is entertaining, any good, and/or has any artistic merit?
Then read OUR TAKE of this film.

(Note: The "Our Take" review of this title examines the film's artistic merits and does not take into account any of the possibly objectionable material listed below).

OUR WORD TO PARENTS:: Here's a quick look at the content found in this G-rated comedy. A few of the scenes - mostly related to monsters scaring kids - might be unsettling or even frightening for some younger viewers, but that all depends on their age, level of maturity and tolerance for such material. Once the nature of such activity is revealed - namely that of monsters just doing their "jobs" - the rest of the suspenseful material stems from action-oriented material.
Some violence is present in the form of various characters hitting others, while one character is the obligatory villain with his diabolical scheme and obvious bad attitudes toward others. Beyond that and a handful of colorful phrases, the rest of the film's categories have little or nothing in the way of other potentially objectionable material. Nevertheless, should you still be concerned with the film's appropriateness for anyone in your home, we suggest that you take a closer look at our detailed listings for more specific information regarding what occurs in the film.

ALCOHOL OR DRUG USE: None.

BLOOD/GORE: None.

DISRESPECTFUL/BAD ATTITUDE: Randall has a bad attitude toward Sulley and Mike and later conspires with others, including Waternoose, to take over the scare industry.

FRIGHTENING SCENES: Some of the following might be unsettling or even frightening for some younger viewers, but that all depends on their age, level of maturity and tolerance for such material.
The opening scene, accompanied by a little suspenseful music, might be unsettling, suspenseful or scary to some kids as we see a young boy in bed who hears the closet door open. He then sees what looks like an arm sticking from it, but it turns out to be just a sleeve. A shadow then crosses his bed and a large creature rises up above him. The boy then screams, as does the monster, and we then see that it's just a training simulation for the monster and that the boy is a mechanical robot/prop. After that, the rest of the "monsters" are mostly kid-friendly.
As Mike and Sulley hide in a bathroom stall, Randall goes along and kicks them open one by one as he looks for them.
Sulley thinks that Boo has gone through a trash system and been sliced and compacted, but we see and thus know that she didn't and is okay.
As Sulley hides, Randall hears him and turns invisible (thus we don't know where he is).
Randall has his assistant prepare the Scream Extractor - a large weapon-like device that's aimed at Mike's and later Boo's head in a menacing fashion (it's supposed to suck all the scream energy out of them and frightens the little girl).
Sulley goes flying down a snow-covered hill out of control on a sled and then crashes.
A scene where Mike and Sulley hang onto and jump from various doors zipping along on a suspended, factory-style assembly line (parts of which are like a roller coaster ride and involves them trying to catch Randall) might be a little suspenseful to some younger viewers in an adventurous fashion. That's especially true when they scramble to get inside a falling door and thus travel into another world inside it before the door crashes to the floor below.

GUNS/WEAPONS: None.

IMITATIVE BEHAVIOR: Phrases: "Oh, nuts," "Shut up," "What a creep," "Nuts" (crazy), "You idiot," "Jerk" and "Stupid, pathetic waste."
Mike swallows a microphone and lets out a huge belch to make a kid laugh.

JUMP SCENES: None.

MUSIC (SCARY/TENSE): A moderate amount of dramatic, adventurous and some suspenseful music plays in the film.

MUSIC (INAPPROPRIATE): None.

PROFANITY: None.

SEX/NUDITY: None.

SMOKING: None.

TENSE FAMILY SCENES: None.

TOPICS TO TALK ABOUT: That monsters in the closet - according to the film - are just doing their job and collecting screams to power their city.
How Sulley develops paternal feelings for Boo.
Computer animation and what it takes to make a film like this.

VIOLENCE: A monster kid accidentally flies off and hits a bigger monster in his eye.
Monsters in safety suits rush in and knock down a monster who's now been contaminated (he has a human sock on his back). They then put some sort of contraption down over the sock and then blow it up under it in a controlled explosion.
Roz closes a sliding window down onto Mike's fingers.
Celia slaps Mike after he suddenly kisses her (although he does so to avoid Randall rather than for romantic reasons).
Randall slams Mike into a wall.
Mike throws some snowballs (from snow cones) at Sulley.
Sulley goes flying down a snow-covered hill out of control on a sled and then crashes.
Randall turns invisible and then repeatedly punches Sulley. He then hits him on the head with some large object. He then continues hitting him and then starts to strangle him (nearly lifting him from the floor), until Sulley finally catches sight of him and hits him, momentarily knocking him unconscious (all of this happens while Mike talks to him and is oblivious to what's happening).
Mike closes a door on Randall's fingers.
Randall kicks Sulley back out through a door with Sulley then hanging on by his fingernails. Boo then jumps on Randall and bangs his head against a wall and then hits him with a bat.

Reviewed October 18, 2001 / Posted November 2, 2001

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