Up was amazing. Part of me hesitates to even write this post, because the awesomeness of Pixar’s annual movie at this point is such a foregone conclusion, discussing the awesomeness almost feels redundant, but I’m also inclined to fight this instinct because like the eight films before it (Cars excluded), Up deserves to be talked about as much as possible as the independently awesome film that it is.
I also write this post knowing full well that I’m so on board with every Pixar film before the first second rolls, that you could drop in a snuff-film scene of a kitten being tortured by a wire hanger and I’d still come out of the theater talking about how the story was so layered and didn’t pander to kids, but even after doing my customary post-movie “Ok, did I really love this movie as much as I think I did, or am I giving it automatic extra love because I know it’s a Pixar film,” Up was absolutely every bit as enjoyable as a movie could possibly be. I’d be wary of the backlash that using a superlative statement like that might automatically invite, but it’s just flat-out true.
After the jump, my more detailed thoughts on Up – spoilers included, such as, “And this part will also make you cry, and this part…”
– I can’t remember the last time I teared up at a movie (maybe watching the Meet The Spartans trailer? Probably WALL-E, actually), let alone teared up at two separate equally poignant, practically opposite life messages. The opening sequence of Carl and Ellie aging through their lives and never making it to South America would’ve been a cheap punch to the gut if it hadn’t been executed so beautifully, and the message of “don’t wait around to seek out adventure in your life” was so overwhelming, I almost ran out of the theater and booked a flight to Machu Picchu. But then, just when you thought you’d boiled the film’s mission statement down to a simple sentence about experiencing life, Carl finally opens the “Things I’m going to do” section of Ellie’s Adventure Book, and holy crap, their whole life was an adventure, you don’t have to fly to South American paradise to experience life, etc, etc, and now tears are adding a fourth dimension to my viewing experience.
– The entire time sitting through The Incredibles, Ratatouille, and WALL-E, I kept thinking “could this movie possibly end in a way that won’t be disappointing after all this awesomeness,” and each time, the ending ended up being perfect. I had the same half-doubts about Up, then sure enough, there were Carl and Russell sitting on the curb and counting cars, assuring for the fourth straight year that I won’t be this happy leaving a movie until next year’s Pixar film.
– What an unexpectedly dark turn to have Carl’s childhood hero turn out to be a selfish, egomaniacal villain; both Up and WALL-E shared startlingly pessimistic views of human nature that went way beyond the typical animated-movie “this one villain is evil” dynamic. Even a once-beloved heroic explorer grew more obsessed with his own reputation than with actually exploring or enjoying the paradise around him, which, although it was only one individual, echoed WALL-E’s unexpectedly dark vision of a selfish humankind destroying its own planet then devolving farther and farther into unquestioned lethargy. I hope Toy Story 3 doesn’t end with Woody accepting the meaninglessness of his actions and blankly stabbing Buzz to death as the world burns.
– Perhaps it’s just a product of working with expensive animation, and possibly because it’s still technically a kids’ movie, but the plot in Up moved so quickly and efficiently and yet, none of this felt overly rushed or convenient. Carl and Ellie had lived their entire lives together 10 minutes into the film, the movie didn’t waste any time showing Carl blowing up balloons (indicated by a subtle combo of his balloon cart floating off the air in the flashbacks and empty helium canisters on his lawn in the present), the house made it to Paradise Falls in no time; it was a no-nonsense pace that kept the movie exciting the whole way through and basically challenged every other movie to be anywhere near as efficient. I have the attention span of a drunken hummingbird, and I don’t recall blinking more than a handful of times this entire movie.
– One of my favorite movie theater phenomena is when you’ve seen a part in a trailer two dozen times, then that part occurs during the actual movie and everyone still laughs like they didn’t know it was coming. The part where Carl slammed the door on Russell has been in every trailer for this movie since, like, 2003, and everyone in my theater still laughed like they hadn’t seen this exact thing several times this week. It’s never annoying, just amusing.
– If the original score by Michael Giacchino (who also does Lost, awesomely) doesn’t win an Oscar, then Pixar might as well stop submitting their scores for consideration, cause it’ll never happen. That recurring Carl/Ellie theme felt like someone punching me in the tear ducts every single time.
– If talking dogs were flying biplanes around and firing guns in a Dreamworks movie, might I have thought it was a little stupid? Emmmmmmmm… I’m gonna say no. Because this movie was awesome. And the talking dogs were awesome. End of discussion.
Thoughts on Up? Tear-up counts? Leave ‘em in the comments!
