Up

Yogi Berra famously said “It’s like déjà vu all over again” and that’s how I feel today. It’s just another Pixar movie that I think is very good, possibly great, but is not the world-ending, cinematic revolution that critics seem to be saying it is. Because I don’t think it’s as special as they do, people are going to say that I didn’t like Up. I did. I truly did. I just think people give Pixar credit for creating the greatest movies of all time when I believe they are extremely entertaining, well-done kids movies. Yes, they are kids movies that adults can love as well, and they do deal with non-kid issues, but so did earlier Disney movies. The Lion King still has one of the most gut wrenching scenes I’ve ever witnessed. Pixar still has the leg up on Dreamworks from a story telling standpoint, but in terms of entertainment, the gap is definitely closing.

The first ten minutes of the this movie, which shows our protagonist Carl’s life up until he is 78 years old, are truly fantastic. They mix humor and emotion in a more effective way than I’ve seen before in a kid’s film. After those first ten minutes, we are left with Carl as a curmudgeon in the truest sense. He refuses to sell his house to the land developer who owns everything else in the surrounding area and closes himself off from everyone around him. One day, fed up with everything going on around him and in an attempt to fulfill a lifelong promise, Carl ties thousands of balloons to his house and sails off to South America. This reveal is an amazing visual sight. Pixar’s animation is another leg up on Dreamworks, especially in 3-D.

Carl’s peaceful trip doesn’t turn out to be so when he discovers a stow away in the form of an 8 year old Wilderness Explorer (read: boyscout). Russell is the driving comedic force of the movie. His delivery is funny and the character is comically animated. Luckily, Russell is not a one note character. He is given emotional depth and feels like a real person (despite being animated). Little kids are funny in real life and Pixar made the right decision of making Russell seem realistic and let the humor come from the character rather than make him a caricature of a kid.

The movie makes a massive tonal shift when Carl and Russell reach their destination at the start of the second act (the most entertaining act). If the first act is a very well-woven tapestry of adult themes and children’s humor, the second act becomes a total kids movie. The goal of Carl is replaced by a crazy adventure complete with a giant colorful bird named Kevin and talking dogs. This section of the movie is amazingly animated (as is the whole movie, but the shot when they reach their destination is amazing) and I just had so much fun with the talking dogs. By getting Carl and Russell out of the house, they are provided a much larger tapestry for their humor and for their characters to grow.

I don’t want to go any further into the plot and into the third act, but the movie drops off immensely in the third act (that’s better than Wall-E, which dropped off after the first act). By the time we get to this act of the movie, the film has gotten so far away from the adult themes, that when they are thrown back into the film, it’s jarring. I’d been laughing and having so much fun only to be kicked in the gut. If only these themes had been better woven throughout the second act the way they were in the first act, when they come back around in the third act, it wouldn’t feel so out of place. The problem is that the movie is trying to juggle so many different tones that my mind didn’t know how to feel. Is it funny? Is it sad? Is it exciting? When these tones are separated, it works having them all in the same movie, but there are instances when all 3 are thrown at us at the same time and it is jarring to the movie goer. I chose to really focus on the humor of the movie and it delivers. The girl behind me was clearly more focused on the sadness because she was blubbering like she was watching The Notebook.

There’s really no need to go on about this movie. By now, everyone should know what to expect from a Pixar film. They always entertain, and never let you down. Go see Up, and I guarantee you won’t be disappointed. You’ll have a great time. You’ll smile. You’ll laugh. You might cry. Just don’t expect it to rock your world.

PS- Partly Cloudy, the short film that comes before the movie, is absolutely amazing. Worth going to the theater for it alone.