Yes, with the kids off from school, it's movie time! On Tuesday, we saw the prequel Monsters University, and on Wednesday, we saw the sequel Despicable Me 2. Both are fun films, with stuff the kids and the adults will enjoy, but if given a choice, I'd choose the sequel over the prequel.
Monsters University tells the story of how James P. Sullivan and Mike Wizowski became partners, but it's really the story of Mike, explaining his desire to be a scarer at Monsters Inc as a childhood dream. And therein lies the simplicity of the film's narrative. Mike is inspired to work hard, hit the books, and get accepted to the scaring school of Monsters U., but no one -- including the dean of the school -- believes he is scary at all.
Sully, meanwhile, has a natural gift for scaring, but he's too lazy to study any scare theory, and he doesn't pay attention to scenarios and kiddie files to learn what their fears are. The top "jock frat" on campus, who wants him in their group (his family has a tradition of great scarers), pressure him to study more.
In many ways, things become very obvious. Sully and Mike dislike each other, their fighting leads to an accident that gets them both kicked out of the scaring school (and into the school designing scream containers, portrayed as a dull education program), and they have to learn to work together if they want to get back in. How? By joining a fraternity of misfits and winning the Scare Games competition and getting the dean to agree to readmit them if they win.
In an inspiring scene, Mike takes the group on an unauthorized field trip to Monsters Inc, and shows them that there is not one type of scarer; if they work hard both physically and intellectually (the classic montages of training show both) they can win the competition. This is of course the movie's central theme: the Protestant Work Ethic!
I won't spoil the film's finish in this edition (I might update it in a month). Suffice to say that such an ideological position is defeated by certain plot events related to the competition. The film has some fun special effects, though I must confess to being unimpressed by the 3-D animation. A few clever jokes for grownups are scattered about, but this is very much targeted at kids. The first film has an engaging (though I suppose similarly predictable) story of a corporate culture and the dynamic between two worlds, and how Mike and Sully ultimately discover a radical truth that changes their world. It's a film whose ideas are adult, even if they are personalized and made relatively easy for kids to comprehend. This prequel keeps it pretty simple.
Despicable Me 2 also has a less complicated story line, and let's face it, having already had his little orphan girls worm their way into his once-evil heart, Gru himself is not going to be quite as interesting as he once was. But that is one aspect of the plot that's played up: his old friend Dr. Nefario leaves him because he's got an offer to do some evil work. (Gru has been preparing to sell jellies and jams and they have been working on new formulae, a deep step down from plotting to steal the moon!)
Gru is actually recruited by an anti-villain government agency to stop a mysterious terrorist who has stolen a formula to turn cute creatures like bunnies into indestructible monsters. (I wonder if there's a message about steroids here!) But Gru also has the personal issues to handle, as a single dad: the magic fairy princess fails to show up for little Agnes's birthday party; Gru's neighbor keeps trying to set him up on dates with her friends; and as the spy plot advances, oldest girl Margot gets wooed by the son of one of Gru's suspects. Meanwhile, someone has been stealing the minions...
This film is a clever story about how one mixes a life of international intrigue with "ordinary" family life. (Kinda like The Sopranos, without the f-bombs and strip clubs.) There's enough funny stuff for the grownups in this one, and scenes we all would find familiar as parents, single or not. And a few clever allusions that go over the kids' heads too: a boy-band homage at the finale caused much convulsions in the theater, and I myself cracked up when seeing that one of the suspects, who operates a hair-replacement center, is named Floyd. (Unfortunately, I must have been the only one in the theater old enough to get that reference.) The 3-D effects are pretty fun, but again, I don't think all that big a deal; perhaps I'm getting used to them, since I'm usually choosing to watch the big-screen movies in 3-D?
And of course, who doesn't love the minions, who pretty much steal the show, though not the story? Their antics are just hilarious and have to be seen to be enjoyed.
Take the little kids to see the prequel; the older tikes (my kids are 10 and 13) will love the sequel.
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