PRESENTS

MONSTER DESIGN - SO MANY fun monsters and different types of creatures!
MONSTER INTERACTION - This is fully a movie about the creatures and how they interact.
MONSTER ORIGINALITY - So these monsters were all people in suits but what they did with them was st
MONSTER FEAR FACTOR - As a movie made for families, not a good bit of fear factor. Perhaps if I was younger.

PRACTICAL EFFECTS - LOVED the dog hand effect, monster's transitioning in light, and lots of fun tricks.
CGI/ANIMATION - 80's "tinkerbell," but not much notable.
FX MAKEUP - C'mon, so much to speak of here.

STORY - A loving and warm family story WITH MONSTERS
CHARACTERS - I found Maurice to be a bit cringey at times and some of the emotional moments between the characters hokie but this does live in a heartfelt world.
DIALOGUE - Lives well in the world and carries many silly and childish and adult language.

This movie is dripping with nostalgia. As someone who has only ever watched this film in adulthood, some of "memorabilia," quality for me is lost AND I can fully enjoy the filming style and am able to lean into the enjoyment of family fun. I thought Mandel's work to be a bit off-putting but the child actors were actually solid. A delightful kids family (with suggestive themes and language) adventure movie. The kind of film I would watch as a warm pick-me-up but not necessarily for anything more than a good time. It feels a little Tim Burton! I believe this was later adapted in Monsters Inc.? Rarely do we rate a creature feature that is lovingly fun and this was a nice change of pace amidst some intense creature/horror flicks.