OxfordPress.com

Grade: B

Verdict: Wonderful computer animation imagines a world of scream-craving monsters, entertaining but formulaic after toys and bugs.

Details: Starring the voices of Billy Crystal, John Goodman, Steve Buscemi and Mary Gibbs. Directed by Pete Docter. Rated G with comic violence. One hour, 32 minutes

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Review: Let's see now, they've made movies about toys and about bugs, so what other parallel worlds can the Pixar computerized animation gang explore? Looking at life from the viewpoint of monsters is hardly an obvious choice, but it does fit the mold of Toy Story and A Bug's Life entertainingly enough, even if Monsters, Inc. often feels awfully formulaic.

Just as bugs do not invade our picnics merely to be mean, Monsters, Inc. offers a whimsical explanation for why ogres, beasties and other misshapen creatures go around scaring children. You see, the resulting screams generate energy that, once harnessed, can keep Monstropolis running. But such is the sophistication of kids today that really good screams have become rare, leading to an energy crisis that threatens rolling blackouts. No wonder the utility company, Monsters, Inc. ("We scare because we care") is pressing its employees to step up the spooking.

Enter James P. Sullivan (voiced by John Goodman), a long-haired, ram-horned, blue-and-purple bruiser who brings to mind a plush toy version of that big lug in Beauty and the Beast. As coached by his comic sidekick, Mike Wazowski (Billy Crystal), a glib-mouthed, one-eyed spheroid on legs, Sulley is the power plant's top ranking scream inducer. Naturally -- well, as naturally as any monster movie can be -- such prowess attracts scheming competition from the reptilian Randall Boggs (Steve Buscemi), who is more than ready to stoop below the already minimal honor code of monsters.

The most reassuring information we gain about monsters is that they are at least as frightened of the children they scare as the kids are of them. And when an exceedingly adorable little girl nicknamed Boo manages to escape her bedroom and walk through a portal and into the power plant, she sets off all sorts of alarms warning of potential contamination. (Yes, it is hard to miss the unintended parallel to our real-world anthrax scares, but hopefully this will be one of several elements that will fly over youngsters' heads.)

Once Boo bonds with Sulley, however, Monsters, Inc. loses its creative steam, substituting action and volume as she scampers around the plant, being scooped up by Sulley, then squirting loose, over and over, repetitively. Perhaps the movie could have used more changes of scenery, as when the chase takes Sulley and tot through doors leading to Tahiti, Paris and, most memorably, into a Himalayan blizzard to encounter a Yeti who would rather not be called "abominable," thank you.

If the story and its adult humor are a cut below the "Toy Story" movies, Pixar has again taken a quantum leap forward in computer-generated visuals. Note the movement and the play of light on Sulley's body hair or the texture of the accumulated snow in the Himalayas. The detail work is eerily realistic. Strictly for fun, with the freedom to ignore realism, the animation team clearly enjoyed imagining the possibilities in monster physiques, eye placements, tentacles and hides.

Longtime Pixar creative team member Pete Docter directs "Monsters, Inc.," getting some enjoyable performances from his voice talent, led by Crystal and his manic verbal comedy. Goodman transfers his teddy bear charms to the character of Sulley, but the real scene stealer is 5-year-old Mary Gibbs, daughter of a Pixar story artist, whose gurgles, giggles and goo-goo talk give Boo plenty of personality. And if ever there were a voice destined for cartoons, it belongs to Jennifer Tilly, who amuses as Mike's often miffed love interest, Celia.

Pixar features have always vacillated between their natural kid audience and adult appeal. Monsters, Inc. has a few good grown-up jokes -- note the hat tip to stop-action animation pioneer Ray Harryhausen and the Armour Hot Dogs jingle lyrics -- but in general the target here seems to be youngsters. Still, this is hardly a movie that grown folks need avoid. Look for it to be a hit, though maybe not a monster hit.

— Hap Erstein, (none)