Reviews by:
@ryan_the_nixon
RATE THIS SERIES
6
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3
2021
Number of seasons: 1
Number of episodes: 10
directors: Stephen Anderson, Kaitlyn Ritter, Kathleen Good, Shane Zalvin.
Starring: Billy Crystal, Ben Feldman, Mindy Kaling, Henry Winkler, Lucas Neff, Alanna Ubach, John Goodman, Christopher Swindle, Jennifer Tilly, Bob Peterson, Bonnie Hunt etc
Tyler Tuskman has just graduated from Monster's University at the top of his scare class and has been recruited at Monsters Inc. as a scarer. However, the day before he starts, Waternoose is canned. With Mike and Sully now in charge, the whole corporation is transitioning to a joke company. Tylor now needs to figure out how to become a jokester. I have to say, despite its flaws I had a lot of fun with this show.
My first few positives would be the animation, the blend of new and original characters. The nostalgia, fun set up and character conflict. The animation was very strong for the show. It has definitely improved since the original film came out, it was colourful and fun, and the characters and their designs looked great. I also really liked the blending of the original characters and the new ones. It was great to see Mike, Sully, Roz, and Celia and some of the great supporting characters come back here. But the new cast of characters were also great so we could connect to a new bunch of monsters. They were very likeable. Tyler, Val, Fritz, Duncan, and Cutter all had their fun quirks to them, and I grew to love their characters as the series developed. The show also had a lot of nostalgia. It was a mixture of seeing the characters I grew up with again, the fun theme tune and being reintroduced to this fun world again. I thought the set up for the series was a lot of fun. having Tyler dreaming of becoming a scarer only for him to be thrown into the world of being a jokester was a great set up for the series. It introduced a lot of good character conflict as well. The internal conflict as Tylor was introduced to the mifters and his goal of becoming a jokester was the key conflict for most of the episodes. And it was explored well, and as his relationship with the characters grew that conflict got more difficult for his character.
My next few positives would be the quick pacing, good worldbuilding, fun scenes. As well as the chemistry between the characters and the development to the plot and well-structured episodes. Each episode had very quick pacing, and this worked in the shows favour. The jokes and character moments kept on coming and it never once got boring. I also thought the worldbuilding was strong. This series expanded on the world of Monsters inc very well. Developing on how the facility works and exploring new characters and laugh power instead of scare power and it did a great job at adding onto what the previous movies developed so well. The film had a lot of fun scenes in the episodes where we got to see what the Mifters were and what they did for a job. The chemistry between the characters made the scenes chaotic and fun. And there were loads of fun side characters and supporting characters within specific episodes that were really entertaining and bought a lot of fun humour. I also thought the plot of the series developed well with well-structured episodes. Each episode had self-contained conflict, but always kept the strong through line of the Tyler’s goals throughout. So, you could have fun within the episode but also get to see the development to Tyler and his relationship with the characters grow.
However, the show was far from perfect. There was a lot of rushed scenes with lack of character background. A lot of the conflict was too easily resolved. Some of the characters were annoying. The chaotic pacing worked at keeping the episodes entertaining, but in doing that they sacrificed depth to the episodes and characters. Never really allowing you to fully connect to a particular scene or character for a long period of time because they would move to the next scene so quickly and never let anything resonate even just for a little bit. It would have been nice to get more background to the Mifters and their lives. But even just with Tyler, he was the main character, and it would have been nice if he had some form of even basic level depth. His parents were in about 3 scenes overall, but it would have been nice if his home life was incorporated more. The conflict was also way too easily resolved in some episodes. I felt like a lot of the conflict being introduced in some episodes could have been dragged out in more episodes, so it was more effective. Instead, the characters just kind of brushed everything off like nothing happened and moved on which was slightly jarring. Finally, I did find certain characters very annoying to begin with. in particular Val and Fritz. They were just very loud and whiny and frankly just irritating. Especially Val, but luckily, they toned down her character and I grew to like her.
My final few positives would be the character development, heart-warming finale, and great character arcs. The character development was strong for the show. As Tyler and his relationship with the Mifters grew stronger, he changed as a character and became less reckless with his decisions. I also really liked his friendship with Val which was explored, and it was heart-warming to see their friendship grow, particularly in the finale with how supportive she was of Tyler following his dreams. The finale itself was very sweet and heart-warming. it ended the show excellently, it felt the most focused episode of the series, and all the development and conflict between the characters was on full display. And as he became a jokester it didn’t feel like a goodbye with the Mifters. This meant that there were some great character arcs. As Tyler achieved his goal of becoming a jokester but also having new friendships and the side story with Val helping with the doors was also fun.
My favourite episodes ranked:
1. It’s laughter They’re after (Episode 10)
2. Adorable Returns (Episode 7)
3. The Cover Up (Episode 5)
4. Bad Hair Day (Episode 9)
5. Little Monsters (Episode 8)
6. The damaged Room (Episode 3)
7. The Big Wazowski’s (Episode 4)
8. Meet Mift (Episode 2)
9. The Vending Machine (Episode 6)
10.Welcome to Monsters, incorporated (Episode 1)
Overall, monsters at work is nothing revolutionary or amazing, and suffers from mediocre writing in places. But it’s a fun, entertaining and charming series. That expands on the monsters inc world excellently. Introducing us to some great new characters. I had a fun time watching it and would be open to another season.
Overall score 79/100
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