Up: Thanks for the Adventure
I was worried about this one.
Don’t get me wrong, I love Pixar. I friggin’ adore Pixar. I’ve been a fan since my teacher showed us The Adventures of André and Wally B. back in the dim dark days of ninth-grade English. I was there opening day of Toy Story, and have been there every opening day since, always entertained, always delighted. Nine films and every one I’ve enjoyed, some more than others, but never disappointed.
But I was worried about this one.
You’ve seen the trailers, so you know an old man (his name’s Carl Frederickson, by the way) attaches an amazing amount of helium balloons to his house and flies it away. You know he picks up an unwilling stowaway in the form of an eager-to-please Boy Scout (he’s Russell). You know along the way they run into a talking dog and some sort of bird thing. And you wonder, how on earth can this be an entire film?
It can be. And more, it can be a wonderful film.
I’m not going to recount the plot here. If you want to read that, there’s hundreds of reviews on the Internet that’ll tell you everything you want to know and probably a lot of stuff you don’t. For me, half the joy was in watching the story unfold, because what Carl does isn’t half as interesting as why he does it. Up is one of those rare movies that is actually about something. There is a story here, a tale of a man doing what he promised to do, and keeping the promise simply because the promise was made. You believe in Carl and Russell. Despite being animated, despite being involved in a story about a man flying his house powered only by helium and wind, the characters are some of the most real you’ll find in any Hollywood offering right now. They hope, they dream, they feel, and we feel right along with them. I challenge anyone over the age of thirty to watch the first ten minutes of this film and not at least get a lump in their throat.
The film isn’t perfect. It’s a little uneven, the fantastic elements seem at odds with the realistic tone, and the third act, with its geriatric adventures and narrow escapes, almost feels like it belongs in a separate film. Even with the original framework, several of the story points are a little on the clichéd side, and you have little doubt as to where the film will ultimately place our two protagonists. The humor is rather sparse (indeed, this is, for the most part, a rather depressing film) and most, if not all, of the good jokes have been used in the trailers. Understand, I’m only comparing this to previous Pixar efforts, where the stories flowed seamlessly along and the humor was sprinkled evenly throughout. Compared to most movies, and definitely most animated fare, Up is still heads-and-shoulders above the rest. Still, I wouldn’t be surprised to find that it doesn’t do as well as earlier Pixar efforts simply because there’s not enough flash and noise to keep the kiddies entertained and make them want to come back again.
So while it’s not Pixar’s best to date, it’s still a wonderful movie and one well worth seeing. Just don’t go in expecting the rollicking adventure the trailers seem to hint at. In fact, don’t expect anything at all. Just sit down, let the story unfold, and enjoy. And don’t be surprised if you find yourself surreptitiously wiping your eyes at some point.
A note about 3D: Don’t. Simply put, this film does not need 3D. Oh, the effect is done well enough, but it’s unnecessary and more of a distraction than anything. Colors are muted, edges are softer, and the end result is more likely to be migraine than marvelous. Save five bucks, see it in 2D. You’ll enjoy it more.
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Tags: Movie Reviews, Pixar
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One Response to “Up: Thanks for the Adventure”
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June 1st, 2009 at 6:18 pm
I was fairly underwhelmed by the film, however, i think I’m in the minority. I’ve seen almost all the Pixar films in the theater and to my astonishment, this one got a thunderous standing ovation at the end. The only thing approaching it I’ve seen with a Pixar film was maybe the opening weekend of Toy Story 2. I was blown away by that because I just felt this one was more cute than funny as was just a bit overly long for the subject matter. Light years ahead of Cars and Monsters Inc, but not nearly as fun and enjoyable as the Toy Story films or the Incredibles. I’ve always enjoyed Bugs Life more than most Pixar fans and still think it’s great, so it wouldn’t be apples to apples to compare it there.
One thing is for sure, the 3D is a complete waste of time. We went to a screen that was not advertised as being 3D at a Kerosotes and found out that ALL showings were 3D in spite of the advertising. I’ve seen two 3D films in the past year that had great 3D and after seeing how astoundingly cool it was in Monsters vs Aliens, this was a complete and utter wash out in 3D. I’m just not a fan of the technology for feature length films unless it’s done really well and here it was just more of annoyance than an asset.
Overall, one of Pixar’s most solid all around efforts, but it just didn’t wow me the way I expected.