Return to Monstropolis in 3D? – a review.

We love Disney*Pixar movies. They contain wonderful, heartfelt stories that seem to stick in your head and heart for years. “Monsters Inc.” was one of those films and this past Saturday, we had the opportunity to revisit the Scare Floor at the El Capitan Theater in Hollywood to see an advance screening of the film’s re-release in 3D.

For this film in particular, Pixar animators had to literally recreate the film in 3D, which took over a year! In other words, it wasn’t just a simple conversion. Animators strategically chose where the 3D would be more evident, depending on the emotion of the specific scene. There were also some very visually stunning effects done with 3D that animators used just for fun (in a sense), like Sulley’s hair. It all really made for an interesting experience to say the least.

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As the film is back in theaters now, our intention in seeing the film was to see if going back to Monstropolis and seeing Mike, Sulley, and Boo “in the third dimension” is worth the price of admission again (11 years later after the original). Here to bring his answer and insight is DE Columnist Lance Cruzado –

“Monsters Inc.” was on my “most over played movies” section of my shelf when I was a young lad; I loved the plot, the scheme, the emotions and the personality of the characters created by the filmmakers; it really was a original, great, and classic Disney*Pixar movie.

Now fast forwarding to the present, watching the film again in 3D expresses the emotions a lot more than it did the original. For example the scene when Sully demonstrated a roar for Mr. Waternoose, accidentally frightening boo, was one of the parts that had my eyes tear, mainly because of the 3D re-animation that made the emotions on Boo’s face so raw and real. The 3D also made some parts look pretty epic like scenes like the door vault when they go from door to door trying to find Boo’s room. The 3D really did justice here with the stunning visuals.

Although there are some sequences that may lead you to say “yup, that’s definitely 3D”, some scenes will feel not 3D at all, leaving nothing new for the viewer to gawk at.

But the real question I’m trying to answer is whether or not this movie is worth seeing again in theaters in 3D. To get straight to the point, I would have to say that it is not because although the 3D technology was used amazingly and strategically, it did not make a huge impact on the story (which is why we go to the movies in the first place!). And that’s a good thing…

That being said, I must again say that this recommendation is coming from a person who has seen this film many times before, both in the theater and on DVD. That being the case, I would still extremely recommend this movie to the younger generation of audiences who haven’t seen the film at all! I realized that many of our fellow audience members were younger kids that I know for sure weren’t around not too long ago and after seeing the film, they were so engaged and joyful, which, in my opinion, is all that really matters in the world of Disney.

For this reason, I am very pleased that they have brought the world of monsters back into the real world for those younger monsters. As for me, I’m looking forward to seeing what new, “monsterous” film Pixar will come up with next…