Up: Another Disney Gold-Plated Hit
By Hervé St-Louis
May 30, 2009 - 17:53:22 PM
Studios: Pixar
Starring: Jordan Nagai, Edward Asner, Christopher Plummer, John Ratzenberger, Delroy Lindo, Paul Eiding
Directed by: Pete Docter, Bob Peterson
Produced by: John Lasseter, Andrew Stanton, Jonas Rivera, Denise Ream
Running Time: 1 hr. 29 min.
Release Date: May 29, 2009
Rating: PG
Distributors: Buena Vista Pictures Distribution
78-year-old balloon salesman Carl Fredricksen just lost his wife Ellie. In her honour, and because a real estate developer wants to send him to an old folks home, he decides to go for the dream of his life and fly with thousands of balloons to South America. But on his way there, stowaway passenger eight-years-old Wilderness Explorer Russell tags along and the pair go on an adventure that will change their lives.
I came in the theatre determined not to like this movie. I’ve had enough of the Pixar/Disney propaganda where they release a film in a timely manner either during the summer or just before Christmas that nominally is intended for kids but was created to entertain their parents. I grow tired of those polished and well-publicized 3D films that universally garner acclaim even when they have weaknesses. Wall E wasn’t a bad movie, but in my opinion, not the marvel some critics would make you believe. Pixar movies remind me of Apple. Everything they do turns into gold, even if the gold is gold-plated. But because it’s all shiny, most people don’t look too hard and assume it’s quality gold.
Up had everything to make me feel this movie was another gold-plated wonder living on borrowed hype. From the trailers, I already knew what would happen. Grumpy old man meets whinny kid. They go on an adventure together and grumpy old man begins to love life again and reconsiders his priorities. Fredricksen’s old age was portrayed, but the stuff the man does in the course of this adventure defies anything a man his age or 50 years younger could do. A few sequences shown in trailers, such as the GPS being thrown out by mistake by the annoying kid had stock cartoon sound effects – that flute sound that Wile E. Coyote makes when he falls off a cliff. Another annoying sound is the one where the house flies away from its foundation. The “grumble” sound used for that scene has been used in all types of films animated or live. One would wonder if the Pixar’s folks budget was cut so much that they could not afford original sound effects.
Yet, in all this cartoon mess build over clichés and a very predictable story with stock villains, stock henchmen and stock sidekicks and annoying pets, the Pixar guys struck a cord with this viewer by touching upon a theme, of course intended for adults, with a heavy sledgehammer. The theme of old age, and promises younger people like me make to one another to live life to the fullest, and what happens when one is gone and old age limits one’s dreams. We're not immortal. I get that now. That’s all this movie was good for if you ask me. It just reminded me again that it’s best to travel the world and go on adventures when the body can take you there, and to continue to have dreams. But it also reminded this jaded reviewer, that dreams are best shared with another soul. Up is not a triumph or a spectacle for the eyes as those vapid critics like to say. It’s a fun movie with too many clichés but enough of that second level understanding that will strike directly at any adult in attendance not pursuing his or her dreams.
The one thing I liked in the animation was the motion of the balloons and the semi-real surface of the characters’ skins. It seems like Pixar put transparencies in the upper layers of their skins so light reflection would go one layer deeper making the skin appear real, like organic matter.
I totally disagree with the reviewer of this film. This movie had laughs aplenty for young and old audiences. While predictable in spots, "Up" had a host of things going in the right direction. Characterization is up front and center from the beginning and doesn't let up until the credits roll. There is action in the usual spots and touching moments in others. The laugh out loud moments were shared by folks of all ages. I would give "Up" a solid 7 out of 10. Great film for the whole family.
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