Monsters, Inc.Movie Reviews

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Avg. Critic Score: 78 out of 100 Generally favorable reviews Metascore® based on all critic reviews
Information for Parents:
5 OK for kids 5+
Read Common Sense Media review

Critic scores range from 0 to 100, with higher scores indicating more favorable reviews.

  • 100
    Rolling Stone | Peter Travers

    It's the Pixar animators who keep grown-ups as riveted as the kids with visual marvels that dazzle and delight. Read full review

  • 90
    Wall Street Journal | Joe Morgenstern

    Who doesn't need what this movie has to give? Read full review

  • 88
    Miami Herald | Rene Rodriguez

    Movies like Monsters, Inc. literally make you feel like a kid again, marveling at the joyously inventive sights before you, and that's a feat that should not be taken lightly. Read full review

  • 88
    Chicago Tribune | Mark Caro

    The climax, featuring what's essentially a suspended roller coaster of closet doors, is as thrilling as it is imaginative. Read full review

  • 88
    Philadelphia Inquirer | Carrie Rickey

    "Shrek" is a scintilla funnier, "Toy Story 2" a hair's breadth more poignant, but "MI" is every bit as imaginative and lovable as these other contemporary animation classics. Read full review

  • 88
    USA Today | Mike Clark

    Though the comedy is sometimes more frenetic than inspired and viewer emotions are rarely touched to any notable degree, the movie is as visually inventive as its Pixar predecessors. Read full review

  • 75
    New York Daily News | Jack Mathews

    Rarely does an animated character merge as perfectly with the persona of the actor providing his voice as the star of Monsters, Inc. does with John Goodman. Read full review

  • 75
    San Francisco Chronicle |

    Funny and sweet enough to delight kids and inventive enough to satisfy adults. Read full review

  • 75
    Entertainment Weekly | Lisa Schwarzbaum

    Monsters, Inc. has got that swing, that zippity, multilevel awareness of kids'-eye sensibilities and adult-pitched humor. Read full review

  • 63
    Boston Globe | Jay Carr

    By any other standard, the creatures in Monsters, Inc. would be impressive. But by the high standard Pixar not only set itself, but invented, they're only ordinary. Read full review

View more reviews for Monsters, Inc. on Metacritic

Information for Parents
Common Sense Media says OK for kids 5+ Cute, kid-friendly monster movie; may scare sensitive kids.
What Parents Need to Know Parents need to know that Monsters, Inc. is about closet monsters, but from their point of view -- scaring kids is their 9-to-5 job. Kids might be scared of the movie's concept initially, but they'll soon figure out that the monster Sulley is a softy who takes care of the little girl in the story who isn't the least bit afraid of him. However there's one scene where a monster the child does fear straps her to a chair and tries to steel her screams. Kids will find it funny that most monsters fear any contact with kids -- when one monster gets a child's sock on him the whole factory panics and biohazard workers quarantine and shave him. Young kids may need help understanding what the monsters in yellow suits are doing to him and why. Note: The 3-D version amps up the intensity.
  • Families can talk about what Sulley learns about kids and how he changes the factory for the better in the end.
  • They can also talk about how each kid was scared by a certain kind of monster. Why was Boo scared of Randall and not Sulley? Why was Sulley considered such a top-notch scarer then?
  • What would make you laugh the hardest if it came out of your closet?
The good stuff
  • educationalvalue true0 Educational value: More for entertainment than education, though kids might learn a bit about factory work and how adults deal with hazards, like potential contamination (in this case, by children).
  • message true3 Positive messages: Strong messages of friendship and that facing fears is a positive thing.
  • rolemodels true3 Positive role models: A monster learns to make kids laugh instead of scare them. Monsters try to do the right thing and protect a little girl.
What to watch for
  • violence false2 Violence and scariness: Comic peril, cartoon violence. The monsters are terrified of children for most of the film, which takes out some scariness. In the scariest climactic scene, the scary villain monster straps a toddler to a chair to catch her screams in a machine and she appears very frightened. Her monster friend saves her.
  • sex false1 Sex: Some flirting and discussion of dating.
  • language false0 Language: Not an issue
  • consumerism false3 Consumerism: This movie is part of the Disney-Pixar dynasty, with plenty of merchandise associated with the film. Toy Story toys are on the floor in one child's room.
  • drugsalcoholtobacco false0 Drinking, drugs and smoking: Not an issue
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