What would the world be without Pixar? I wouldn’t live in that world that’s for sure. The power of UP lies in the one factor that makes Pixar the champion of animated films that it is today,.. the story. It’s every heartwarming adjective you can find from the dictionary along with exciting, funny, breathtaking and downright spectacular! This floating house reaches new level of wonder. I don’t need to see any other competition this year. Pixar’s 10th film deserves exactly that.. 10 stars!
From Disney•Pixar comes “Up,” a comedy adventure about 78-year-old balloon salesman Carl Fredricksen, who finally fulfills his lifelong dream of a great adventure when he ties thousands of balloons to his house and flies away to the wilds of South America. But he discovers all too late that his biggest nightmare has stowed away on the trip: an overly optimistic 9-year-old Wilderness Explorer named Russell. From the Academy Award®-nominated director Pete Docter (“Monsters, Inc.”), Disney•Pixar’s “Up” invites you on a hilarious journey into a lost world, with the least likely duo on Earth. “Up” will be presented in Disney Digital 3-D™ in select theaters.
It’s hard to talk about how great UP is without mentioning its relation to the brilliant people behind this concept. What I love about UP is the same thing I love about Pixar movies, at first it’s as if you have it all figured out but then the story takes you to another place and completely floors you. It doesn’t go astray from the themes, but you’ll get more than what you pay for…satisfaction guaranteed! UP seems like nothing but a story of an old man, a kid, and a floating house, however, there’s more to it than just that. It’s character driven, it’s plot-oriented, it presents something so unique in the beginning and then re-showcase it again in the most clever, entertaining, and crucial way possible in the later parts of the movie. Old Carl Frederickson only wanted to live the adventure that he and his wife wished to have, little does he know that the certain ‘bumps’ along the way are part of the adventure all along.
I went to the midnight showing and met my hero John Campea of TMB who reminded me that Pixar movies are usually filled with adult themes but they’re kid-friendly. That statement rings so true with UP, this is probably the most drama that a Pixar has in one movie especially the first half where it shows how young Carl met his future wife and the many years they spend together. Audiences will be struck with heavy issues that the couple would have to endure but they’ll also be touched by their cute romance.
Once again, what’s great about UP is the story by Peter Docter, Bob Peterson and Tom McCarthy. Not only did they create these characters we care so much about, they also carefully crafted the challenging relationship between them, the subtle yet powerful way they develop, how Carl changes from grumpy to friendly, how Russell turns from explorer by theory to explorer by practice, how Dug the talking Dog turns from coward to courageous, it is originality throughout the entire time. In moments of thrills, the movie plays with heights and boy do they really emphasize on that far away distance from the ground, it’s quite a helluva drop!
Whenever we think Carl and Russell won’t find a way out, an element of surprise would come up in any form to save the day. Just as the jungle is wild, nothing is predictable in UP.
Great voicework by all the cast. They compliment each other, clearly the result of good directing by people who know what they have in their vision and know exactly how to make it into reality. I am forever in awe of the backdrop, I know it’s CG but the nature view is absolutely jaw-dropping. It doesn’t have the precise eye for details that Wall-E had but what you get is the desire to go out and feel the outdoors. Some might say the 3D aspect doesn’t do much but I’d watch UP again even if it’s not in 3D. Who would’ve thought that an old man and a fat kid could be this year’s unlikely heroes.
When I talked to Ed Asner, the voice of Carl, a couple of months ago about UP, he said a very important point. “The movie has something for somebody,
For the lonely Carl, there’s this boy Russell who warms his heart, and for Russell whose parents are too busy for him, he has Carl as his mentor and somebody he looks up to” The great Asner was right.
Every other animation out there try too hard with their humor and their graphics and they’d cast a bunch of today’s famous stars. Yes Pixar cares about how UP looks as well but more than that it prides itself in making sure that something from UP story will go home with the audience even when the looks stay on the big screen.
The floating house is what will make his wife’s lifelong dream come true but it’s also the one thing that Carl must let go before he can start a new adventure.
* Place the cursor on the image below to check my grade for this film
