Up

Voices of: Edward Asner, Christopher Plummer, Jordan Nagai, Bob Peterson, Delroy Lindo, John Ratzenberger
Directed by: Pete Docter, Bob Peterson
Rating: PG
Genre: Animation, Adventure, Comedy
2009

Times Seen:
Tim: 1

Summary: Carl (Edward Asner) is a 78 year-old man who misses his recently deceased wife while dreaming of the adventures they always planned to have together. When faced with being moved to a retirement home, he attaches thousands of balloons to his house, and away it floats.

Review:

Tim: I have typically not been quite as enchanted with Pixar as most of the rest of the world. I am definitely not a hater- I loved both Toy Story movies, and I firmly believe parts of Wall-E were nothing short of a masterpiece. However, I haven't been as high up on some of their other films (notably, The Incredibles). With Up, I really liked it and I acknowledge that this is a very good movie. However, I don't think it is nearly as good as many critics and audiences are making it out to be. This was a very good movie, but not a great one.

I think that it is amazing that Pixar could make a movie about a mean old man and a fat, annoying little boy an enjoyable experience. However, that is exactly what Pixar did. That is the magic of this film, similar to the magic that was shown in Ratatouille (how could a movie about a rat in a restaurant be good?). But, although Pixar makes this work, this is still a movie about a mean old man and a fat, annoying little boy. These are unconventional heroes, yes, but on the other hand, they are not the greatest characters for us to get emotionally invested in. I wasn't a huge fan of either character, which hurt this movie in my eyes.

The main aspect of Up that I love is the pure originality of the story. So often in Hollywood today, ideas are recycled over and over, oftentimes getting worse with each redo. It is supremely refreshing to watch an original, never-been-done-before story, which this film could be called. That being said, I didn't love the story. I loved the originality, but the story was a bit weak and occasionally extremely far-fetched. I can buy that a house can be lifted off its foundation with balloons, and I can even buy a collar that allows dogs to talk. However, I draw the line on dogs piloting deadly aircraft. That just felt silly to me.

I do want to point out how amazingly touching the scenes portraying Carl and his deceased wife, Ellie. These moments were Pixar at their best- we become emotionally invested in animated characters who we've just met. The scene where Carl goes through the entire Adventure book was one of the most touching, beautiful moments I have ever seen on film. Those moments were wonderful. However, they are too few, and are stuck between some lukewarm, only decent adventure/comedy scenes that make up the majority of the movie.

As I have said, I really liked Up. I love the chances this film took, the desire to tell an original story no matter what, and I have to admit that the animation is stunning beautiful. However, I can't claim that this is one of Pixar's best efforts. I don't think it lives up to , the Toy Story movies, or Cars. While this is a good movie, I think people get a bit caught up in the Pixar hype, believing everything they do is genius. That was not the case here, but there is nothing wrong with making a really good (but not great) movie.

Rating 1-10
Tim's Rating- 7.5



If You Enjoyed This Movie, We Recommend: Wall-E, Toy Story, Toy Story 2, Cars, Ratatouille, The Incredibles