The long anticipated sequel to Monsters Inc., Monsters University (dir. Dan Scanlon) reunites Billy Crystal and John Goodman as Mike and Sully, as we flashback to their university days. As the son of a legendary scarer, Sully mostly gets by on his family name, while Mike gets by on hard work and discipline. The lazy talented guy and the hard worker have to put aside their differences and work together to stay in school in a classic odd couple scenario.

Monsters University brings back almost all the original cast, with some great additions. Crystal and Goodman are still a great team, with Crystal’s mile-a-minute banter offset nicely by Goodman’s slower pace. They are well paired with Dame Helen Mirren as the hard as nails dean Hardscrabble, Nathan Fillion as Johnny Worthington, resident cool kid, and Alfred Molina as Professor Knight, Scare instructor.

I wasn’t a huge fan of the original Monsters Inc., but this blew me away. The animation alone has massively improved, slimy skin glistens in the moonlight, fur fluffs in the wind, it looks fantastic, with a race through underground tunnels lit by the occasional glow being a real standout. It’s also funny without resorting to pop culture references or too callbacks to the previous movie, usually the go-to targets. One problem I did have were the very toyetic designs to every monster. This is a minor niggle, especially for a kids movie, but it did stand out. No doubt many of these characters will be warming shelves for a good long time.

It’s been 8 years in the making, and the end product is that rarest of things, a sequel totally superior to the original. Also, be sure not to miss the preceding short, The Blue Umbrella, a beautiful story about pareidolia (inanimate objects that look like they have faces).

Donal O’Connor