Up
Up
(Movie Review)
I took the time tonight to go watch Pixar's newest animated film and was immediately inspired afterwards to write about it. Each year, Pixar continues to take risks and be impressively innovative in the animated market, when many companies attempt and fail. Take, for example, last year's Wall-E (an amazing film in its right) which had a robot protagonist who really couldn't speak and most of the communication is through squeaks, whistles, looks and such. For much of the film, it was a silent fmovie and yet still, one of the best releases of last year. I can't say enough good things about Pixar, who I've been huge fans of since Toy Story, their very first film. Each year, I question whether this latest Pixar movie will be able to meet the high expectations that come from being a Pixar movie and I've never been disappointed (maybe a little bit with Cars, but even that's still better than many animated films that are put out nowadays). Now, I'm happy to report that Pixar does it again. Not only does it meet the lofty expectactions I set for it, but it soars right over them. (Sorry - couldn't help myself!)
Up
Released: May 29, 2009.
Starring: Ed Asner, Jordan Nagai, Christopher Plummer, Bob Peterson, John Ratzenberger.
Running Time: 1 Hour and 36 Minutes (96 Minutes)
Director: Pete Docter.
Carl Fredrickson (Ed Asner) and his wife Ellie always wanted to go adventuring down to South America, as they both dream of becoming explorers. The opening montage opens up with their meeting during childhood, their romance and ideal romance. Even after marriage, they still dream of going out on adventures and yet, as life tends to do, it gets in the way. By the time the montage is over, their dreams of travel have been postponed and Carl ends up leading a much different life, one completely devoid of adventure as he seldom travels anywhere beyond his front porch.
However, as you might guess from the trailers, this lifestyle isn't meant to last and through the efforts of a greedy land developer, Carl is being forced to be evicted from his home and heading towards a retirement home. But, rather than being carted off to a retirement community, Carl decides to use his lifelong career as a balloon salesman as he uses thousands of helium balloons to lift himself up into the air to fullfill their dreams of traveling down to South America once and for all. Of course, things don't go quite as planned as a young Wilderness Explorer, Russell (Jordan Nagai) comes along for the ride while trying to ern his merit badge for assisting the elderly. Adding to the magical adventure are a pack of talking dogs (with the standout being Dug, who is a classic character and adds a ton of charm to the film), a dangerous elderly explorer (fantastically voiced by Christopher Plummer in a menacing turn), a wounded jungle bird, a flying dirigible and some gorgeous imagery which only highlights a beautiful film. Put them all together and you have one of Pixar's best films yet. Considering Pixar's predecessors, that's saying a lot.
Whereas Wall-E was a homage to sci-fi films, Up reminds me a lot of the early Indiana Jones films (not the new Indiana Jones film) with its imagination, thrills and adventure. However, it's one of those rare films which manages to succeed in many different ways as it can alternately make you laugh, cheer, smile and even cry. At its heart, it is truly a touching film. I watched the film in Disney 3-D, which is probably the first 3D film I've ever seen and I'll confess that I was thankful for those big 3-D glasses from time to time while I was choking back a few tears. Overall though, I didn't feel like the 3-D element was used too often but with a film like this, it hardly needs any added spectacle when it's already quite amazing on its own. Perhaps amazing isn't a strong enough word for a film like this, as it's really a beautiful film to watch, with some great scenes as they fly through the air in the flying house and even more colorful scenery follows once they arrive in Brazil, all the way to the exciting finale. It's a film anchored by some strong characterization as its easy to forget you're watching an animated film sometimes, considering how deeply you get involved with the characters. While I'm not easily moved by films, this one certainly did.
Of course, the film wouldn't be complete without an incredible score, which in this instance is done by Micheal Giacchino, who I was fortunate enough to discover through the television show Alias and has been one of my favorite composers ever since. I'm genuinely glad to see him really achieving some mainstream success. This summer he has composed the scores for this must-see movie and Star Trek, another of the best films to be released so far in 2009. Micheal Giacchino has been doing scores for several of the past Pixar films and contributes yet again with another soundtrack which perfectly matches the material. The music accompanies the film brilliantly and really adds to the experience.
I find it difficult to believe that this movie succeeds on so many levels and yet, somehow, it does. It's a sweet film that is another great achievement in a long list for Pixar. The movie grips you early and once they take off into the clouds, you're along for the ride and trust me, you won't regret it for a moment. Long after the ride is over, this film will stick with you. What you will regret is if you don't see this movie. So, even if you do have to use 10,000 helium balloons to reach your nearest theatre displaying this movie, make the trip. Up, up and away!
Rating: Five Stars (High Five!)
(Now, in a movie which received lots of cheers and clapping, including a standing ovation from many audience members (including myself), the loudest cheers of all might have been for this particular teaser trailer which presents what may very well be the highlight of next summer. It's certainly one of the films I'm looking forward to next year and even the brief charm in this teaser certainly is better than anything we'll see in entire other animated films released this year - the only bad thing about this trailer is that we have to wait a whole year for Toy Story 3!)
Up
Released: May 29, 2009.Starring: Ed Asner, Jordan Nagai, Christopher Plummer, Bob Peterson, John Ratzenberger.
Running Time: 1 Hour and 36 Minutes (96 Minutes)
Director: Pete Docter.
Carl Fredrickson (Ed Asner) and his wife Ellie always wanted to go adventuring down to South America, as they both dream of becoming explorers. The opening montage opens up with their meeting during childhood, their romance and ideal romance. Even after marriage, they still dream of going out on adventures and yet, as life tends to do, it gets in the way. By the time the montage is over, their dreams of travel have been postponed and Carl ends up leading a much different life, one completely devoid of adventure as he seldom travels anywhere beyond his front porch.
However, as you might guess from the trailers, this lifestyle isn't meant to last and through the efforts of a greedy land developer, Carl is being forced to be evicted from his home and heading towards a retirement home. But, rather than being carted off to a retirement community, Carl decides to use his lifelong career as a balloon salesman as he uses thousands of helium balloons to lift himself up into the air to fullfill their dreams of traveling down to South America once and for all. Of course, things don't go quite as planned as a young Wilderness Explorer, Russell (Jordan Nagai) comes along for the ride while trying to ern his merit badge for assisting the elderly. Adding to the magical adventure are a pack of talking dogs (with the standout being Dug, who is a classic character and adds a ton of charm to the film), a dangerous elderly explorer (fantastically voiced by Christopher Plummer in a menacing turn), a wounded jungle bird, a flying dirigible and some gorgeous imagery which only highlights a beautiful film. Put them all together and you have one of Pixar's best films yet. Considering Pixar's predecessors, that's saying a lot.
Whereas Wall-E was a homage to sci-fi films, Up reminds me a lot of the early Indiana Jones films (not the new Indiana Jones film) with its imagination, thrills and adventure. However, it's one of those rare films which manages to succeed in many different ways as it can alternately make you laugh, cheer, smile and even cry. At its heart, it is truly a touching film. I watched the film in Disney 3-D, which is probably the first 3D film I've ever seen and I'll confess that I was thankful for those big 3-D glasses from time to time while I was choking back a few tears. Overall though, I didn't feel like the 3-D element was used too often but with a film like this, it hardly needs any added spectacle when it's already quite amazing on its own. Perhaps amazing isn't a strong enough word for a film like this, as it's really a beautiful film to watch, with some great scenes as they fly through the air in the flying house and even more colorful scenery follows once they arrive in Brazil, all the way to the exciting finale. It's a film anchored by some strong characterization as its easy to forget you're watching an animated film sometimes, considering how deeply you get involved with the characters. While I'm not easily moved by films, this one certainly did.
Of course, the film wouldn't be complete without an incredible score, which in this instance is done by Micheal Giacchino, who I was fortunate enough to discover through the television show Alias and has been one of my favorite composers ever since. I'm genuinely glad to see him really achieving some mainstream success. This summer he has composed the scores for this must-see movie and Star Trek, another of the best films to be released so far in 2009. Micheal Giacchino has been doing scores for several of the past Pixar films and contributes yet again with another soundtrack which perfectly matches the material. The music accompanies the film brilliantly and really adds to the experience.
I find it difficult to believe that this movie succeeds on so many levels and yet, somehow, it does. It's a sweet film that is another great achievement in a long list for Pixar. The movie grips you early and once they take off into the clouds, you're along for the ride and trust me, you won't regret it for a moment. Long after the ride is over, this film will stick with you. What you will regret is if you don't see this movie. So, even if you do have to use 10,000 helium balloons to reach your nearest theatre displaying this movie, make the trip. Up, up and away!
Rating: Five Stars (High Five!)
(Now, in a movie which received lots of cheers and clapping, including a standing ovation from many audience members (including myself), the loudest cheers of all might have been for this particular teaser trailer which presents what may very well be the highlight of next summer. It's certainly one of the films I'm looking forward to next year and even the brief charm in this teaser certainly is better than anything we'll see in entire other animated films released this year - the only bad thing about this trailer is that we have to wait a whole year for Toy Story 3!)
