Movie Review: Pixar’s UP (2010)

Before I start the review of the film itself, I want to tell everyone that the animated short “Partly Cloudy” that precedes the film is in itself an amazing masterpiece that is probably one of the best ever created. It is so original, creative and imaginative, yet instills laughter, sadness and has a wonderful feel good ending. I watched this little film that spanned no more than a few minutes and at the end of it, I wish I could have seen it again. Pixar does not disappoint with their animated shorts that precede the films, and Party Cloudy is one that I will remember forever.

Now, on to the movie itself, which I will sum up with the following:

Pixar delivers another amazingly stunning artistic piece that transcends generations and touches your heart whether you are five or seventy five years old.

The first few minutes of UP play out like an animated short showing the story of how the main character Carl and his wife Ellie met as children and spent their lives together, always planning to getaway to Rainbow Falls only to have life’s emergencies keep costing them their savings. It reminds us all how when we try to save for a retirement or vacation, often an emergency dips into our life savings to cover the unexpected. I was nearly left in tears by just the opening of the film, as the life full of love comes with the loss that you know is coming. Most of the introduction to the film has barely any spoken words, and is more played like a flashback through Carl and Ellie’s lives.

Once you reach where Carl is in the present you see his a man in a house surrounded by construction, his desperation and frustration at being alone have him rather crabby and hostile toward the outside world.  When a construction worker voiced by John Ratzenberger (who has a cameo in I think every single Pixar film ever made) tries to make an offer on his house on behalf of a corporate tycoon, Carl just tells them off.

Shortly his temper and frustration get him into a situation where he is going to be forced into a retirement home and to spare himself, he decides to keep his promise to Ellie who he now personifies as the house. Using many helium balloons he lifts the house and sets sail for South America toward the Rainbow Waterfalls as promised.

Picking up a kid eager to earn his final scout badge to help the elderly and a canine with a translating collar along the way, the movie is filled with adventure, humor and sadness as we are taken to a magical world in a mythical place in South America. The movie plays out so beautifully with suspense, comedy and sadness all poised at exactly the right points to make you feel exactly how the director intended.

There is another scene toward the end of the film that literally had tears in both my wife and my eyes, and even though much of the film is for adults, especially those who are couples, the children don’t even notice the scenes that touch us as adults as much. The movie is about spirit and adventure and achieving everything you wanted to do in life, it shows mortality, aging, and how friends and family and the life we spend with each other are what matter most in the end.

This film is like watching a beautiful piece of art, and honestly is among Pixar’s best. It has among the most unique stories out of any film period, and has the heart, humor and design for the entire family. I could not recommend a movie more this year, as this was the best film I have seen in the past year without any doubt.

Pixar's UP rating  

[youtube width="555" height="261"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pkqzFUhGPJg[/youtube]

Up (Single-Disc Edition)

PG (Parental Guidance Suggested), DVD, Edward Asner, Jordan Nagai, John Ratzenberger, Christopher Plummer, Bob Peterson, Bob Peterson, Pete Docter, Bob Peterson, Pete Docter, Andrew Stanton, Denise Ream, John Lasseter, Thomas McCarthy

• $29.99 List Price
• $16.58 at Amazon.com

Product Description This film from the wizards at Pixar centers on Carl Fredericksen, a character far different from any of the animation company's previous heroes. Carl isn't a fish, or a toy, or a monster. Instead, Carl is simply a 78-year-old man, but his age doesn't keep him from having a rollicking adventure in this film featuring the voices of Ed Asner, Christopher Plummer, and Pixar favorite John Ratzenberger.... Read moreAmazon.... Read more