[8.0/10] A lesser movie would have stopped half an hour earlier. *Monsters University* consciously apes the traditional college comedy, replete with nerds vs. jocks undertones and a fraternity/sorority decathlon to bring that rivalry to a head. Familiar faces Mike Wazowski and James “Sully” Sullivan have to learn how to put theory to practice and apply themselves respectively. But in the end, with enough digging deep and teamwork with their fellow misfits, they win the cup and earn their places in the titular vaunted institution.

Except they don’t. Except Mike realizes that Sully cheated because the big blue beast didn’t believe his little green friend really has what it takes. Except that both of our favorite monsters spend much of the last act of the film soul-searching over their failures rather than reveling in their successes.

It’s that extra layer that sets so many Pixar films apart, and certainly elevates *Monsters University*over what could easily have been a charming but insubstantial brand extension from an era when the studio spent more time duplicating the familiar than breaking into the new. Instead, it’s the best prequel movie this side of *The Godfather: Part II*. That’s no damning with faint praise; it’s a legitimately great movie when, with recognizable characters and a built in audience, it didn’t have to be.

But *Monsters University* makes a series of smart choices that give it a boost. One of them is to make Mike Wazowksi the main character. It’s a little tough to remember since the two main monsters are given relatively equal billing, but the original *Monsters Inc.* is really Sully’s movie, with Mike playing a prominent, but still supporting role. Sully’s the one on the emotional journey of discovery there, with Mike mostly existing for comic relief. That’s not a bad thing by any means, but it means there’s more character to explore (and create) with Mike, shaking off some of the major pathologies that prequels run into.

The film gives Mike a relatable backstory and motivation. He’s always been the little guy -- overlooked, underestimated -- which leads him to work harder than everyone else to get the respect he deserves. When a field trip to Monsters Inc. leads to a run-in with a scarer he comes to admire, and the first real attention he’s had as a dorky moppet, it inspires Mike to make it his life’s work, despite not fitting the mold of the traditional monster. Through determination and lots of effort, he even makes it to the hallowed halls of the same institution of higher learning his inspiration did.

It’s a good setup. We understand why Mike doesn’t naturally fit in, what his goal is, and how those two things work against each other. It also makes for a nice contrast with Sully, who’s the exact opposite. We learn that the eventual all-time great scarer is someone who spent most of his life coasting on nepotism and natural talent, without putting in the labor and study it took Mike to get to the same place. That sets the pair up as foils to one another in the early going, and creates plenty of room for both conflict and eventual earned understanding between the two of them as the movie progresses.

Amid that strong character backdrop, the film offers tons of gorgeous and eye-catching (and slightly more literal) backdrops as well. *Monsters University* is a quantum leap forward from its predecessor in terms of aesthetics. The characters all have cartoony but nuanced and emotionally resonant expressions. The animators went wild with tons of inventive character designs synced with distinctive animation to match. The collegiate setting gives the background designers an excuse to do scads of monster-y takes on the usual ivy-lined environments. Candy-colored beasties dot the screen, giving a sense of brightness and verve. And at times, the visuals even veer into straight horror, making the most of the chill factor right when it’s needed. The fur is furrier; the scales are scalier, and the figures and surroundings are more expressive and real.

That extends to Mike and Sully’s new (old?) pals. The pair join the lowest rung fraternity on campus, Oozma Kappa, in the hopes of proving their mettle by competing in the scare games. What’s more, in one of those types of wagers that only exist in college movies, they bet the dean that if they win, they’ll be readmitted to the school’s scaring program, and if not, they’ll leave the university altogether, adding some stakes. Their escapades through the various events and around campus give the movie the opportunity to riff on all the cinematic clichés for institutions of higher learning with a delightfully monster-y twist and lots of winning physical humor.

But the scare games also allow the film to zero in on its major theme -- that there’s no one single way to be useful or successful. Instead, there’s tons of approaches to being a success in your chosen field, and everyone has strengths that, when recognized rather than marginalized, can prove useful and even vital, regardless of whether they fit the usual mold. Age, quietness, and other unique qualities that people feel are hindrances can instead be valuable avenues to achieving your dreams.

*Monsters Inc.* doesn’t stop there though. It takes to heart the philosophical conflict that Mike and Sully represent, even when the pair are on the same page. In the movie’s most emotional scene, Mike laments that no matter how hard he works, he’ll never be scary, that he lacks the in-born talents to be great in his passion. And for his part, Sully confesses his constant terror at trying to live up to his family legacy and not let anyone down. It’s not a trite “We’re not so different, you and I” coming together of former rivals, but rather a sincere and piercing admission of personal insecurities and even failings that bring the two closer together.

In one of Pixar’s cleverer third act climaxes, Mike and Sully have to work together to reopen the door back to the Monster World after a foolhardy effort by Mike to prove himself goes awry. The effort requires scaring adults, and the creativity and innovation Mike shows, with his scare-tastically gifted but less cerebral partner in tow, proves the unprecedented things the two can accomplish when they align their talents’ with one another. It is, as the scary but Anton Ego-esque dean finally admits, something surprising, a feature the duo bring as they slowly but surely work their way to the top of Monsters Inc.

Most movies don’t go for that extra layer, especially sequels, prequels, and spin-offs. *Monsters University* is judicious with its call-forwards and references to its predecessor, instead focusing on crafting a new chapter of Mike and Sully’s story that can stand on its own.

But where the movie does feed into their later adventures is the idea when working as a team, the pair are ready for anything, with Sully able to use his natural talents in impressive ways and Mike able to deploy lateral thinking and improvisation that makes him vital as a coach and forward-thinking player in their world. That leaves the two of them poised and ready for the big changes to come, and mark *Monsters University* as a late-arriving prequel that nevertheless manages to punch, scratch, and scare above its weight.