Up Review
A Review - By Gaetano Prestia
Up is a delightful fusion of childhood fantasy, adult humour and stunning animation. Bringing together a story for the ages and several memorable characters - as well as near-perfect direction by Pete Docter - Up is one of Pixar’s more mature films, one that will appeal to young children and adults alike.
The story begins as a young Carl coincidently bumps into the ever-eccentric and always-energetic Ellie. With their identical passion for adventure and exploration, Carl and Ellie share an inseparable bond that lasts through the decades. As they marry and work, they try to save as much money as possible to fund their dreams of visiting South America, only to have the basic everyday financial strife of life bring them back down to Earth.
The audience is shown all of this through a wonderfully constructed montage, one that not only introduces us to our main character in Carl (voiced by Edward Asner), but also offers one of the more jeering emotional acts for the entire film. Unsurprisingly, the emotional bond formed during this montage is one that adults will undoubtedly appreciate more so than the younger audience, but it still has enough charm and basic wit to get a few laughs out of the kids.
As time passes and the two grow old together, it’s evident that their fire for adventure is no longer as strong as it used to be. Soon, Ellie passes away and Carl is left alone in the couple’s house to ponder and wonder what could have been. The progression of the main story from this point onwards is quite culminating, as we see an elderly Carl go through his daily routine without being over mournful over the death of his wife. The adult version of Carl is introduced as a character with a strong will, one that has been developed by his confident childhood sweetheart and wife, a woman that always seemed to lead the way with major decisions in the household.
The first 10-15 minutes of Up definitely offer the films most emotional aspects, as the audience suddenly comes to appreciate Carl’s situation and sympathise with his humorously familiar and realistic daily routine.
As an eviction notice is put over his head, Carl decides to take matters into his own hands. Using thousands of brightly coloured balloons, Carl lifts his house off and up into the blue sky, destined for the South American paradise that he and Ellie never reached.
Joined by the films main comedy relief in Russell (Jordan Nagai), who has stowed away in the house so he can earn his last wilderness explorer badge for helping the elderly, Carl embarks on a magical adventure…right within the confines of his own home.
While Up seems to lose a bit of its emotional touch as it progresses, there’s enough humour and character interaction here to make for an entertaining adventure, one that you will definitely want to experience and see a conclusion for. The introduction of Doug the talking dog and Kevin the gigantic exotic bird eventually lead the way for the story to progress beyond Carl’s main adventure, and here in lies a lot of the films slapstick action and excitement.
Carl and Russell soon come across a seemingly ageless explorer and his army of talking dogs, as they move through the jungles to hunt down Kevin and the fame that comes with capturing such a spectacular animal. Through this plot we are able to see a development of the relationship between Carl and Russell, as we learn of Russell’s not-so-perfect lifestyle back home.
While not quite as emotionally jeering as last year’s masterpiece in Wall-E or previous Pixar greats like Toy Story and Finding Nemo, Up has a delightful direction of exciting chases through lush and gorgeously animated jungle, likable characters in Carl and Russell, and a well-constructed story with plenty of jokes that should appeal to both adults and children.
(9.0/10)
Submitted by Gaetano
16/09/2009
6
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Up (Blu-ray + DVD) (3 Disc Set)
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