Up Review
Up
Directed by: Pete Docter and Bob Peterson
Written by: Bob Peterson
Starring (the voices of): Edward Asner, Jordan Nagai, Christopher Plummer, Bob Peterson, John Ratzenberger
For 15 years now, Pixar has been the agreed upon gold standard in computer animated films. Ever since the release of Toy Story they have produced an unblemished string of movies that have been hugely successful both critically and commercially — a claim that virtually no other studio can make. Over the past few years, the critical praise has reached new highs, with many calling for their films to be nominated for Best Picture at the Academy Awards; conversely, the box office numbers have dipped a bit in response to their slightly more artistic aims (albeit not by much).
With Pixar’s tenth feature film, Up, by all accounts, it seemed like it would continue the trend of telling deeper stories with less commercial appeal. Starring an old man as a protagonist and a plot that was being kept largely under wraps, there didn’t seem to be much marketing or merchandise to hype it up ahead of time. The only thing building buzz, as always, was the Pixar name, and perhaps the fact that Monsters, Inc. director Pete Docter was returning to the helm. But is Up another undisputed masterpiece, or is Pixar getting to be over the hill?
The movie tells the story of Carl Fredricksen, an old man determined to achieve his life long dream of travelling to Paradise Falls in South America. He hooks up a bunch of balloons to his house and rises up into the sky, only to find that a young cub scout named Russell has inadvertently come along for the ride. Together they end up in the midst of a tropical adventure that involves a talking dogs and a old explorer with a grudge, living in an airship. They must overcome their respective obstacles of youth and age in order to keep him from abducting a rare bird and bringing it back to the United States.
Pixar continues to challenge the kinds of things that we see in animated films, particularly with the 10-minute opening montage that follows Carl’s life from a young boy to a married man through to old age. There are some particularly heartbreaking real-life moments within this sequence that get things off to a bit of a depressing start. While this is both unexpected and admirable, the problem is that immediately after this, Carl simply becomes your standard grouchy old man whose bitterness is played for laughs. At times it feels like Pixar wants it both ways, but if you’re going to drop some heavy emotions into the movie, then you had better follow up on it.
Although the movie is influenced by old adventure serials, Up takes a while to deliver on that promise. Fortunately, the interplay between Carl and Russell is entertaining enough to carry the first portion of the film. First-time voice actor Jordan Nagai is precocious and adorable, while Ed Asner is almost as good a grumpy old man as Walter Matthau. Once they reach South America, this is where we are treated to the most breathtaking visuals, and eventually, some great action.
In general, the movie is more cute than hilarious, but one of the highlights is easily the character of Dug, the eternally cheerful dog with a high-tech collar that offers rough translations of his thoughts. This was a stroke of genius on the part of Docter and co-director/writer Bob Peterson, providing an interesting twist on the talking animal formula that seems to permeate every single computer-animated movie coming out nowadays.
The Charles Muntz character is pretty uninteresting, but again, looking at it as a cartoon, a villain is needed to move the plot forward. This is acceptable because the last half hour or so is by far the most fun, from the swashbuckling sword fight to the quite literal mid-air “dog fight”. This kind of stuff was a blast to watch, I only wish there had been more of it.
What I find myself struggling with most is the emotional core of this film. Up probably has the most tear jerking scenes since Finding Nemo, but I’m not sure that they’re entirely earned.
Specifically, the major breakdown/turning point in the film for Carl kind of comes out of nowhere as he flips through his photo album while the music does its best to elicit emotion. Oh, right, we’re supposed to feel sorry for this guy, not laugh at him. Even Russell’s character has a sad story behind him, but the way the relationship between Carl and young Russell ends, it just seems a little too predictable and clearly forced to engineer misty eyes. It just didn’t quite work for me.
I don’t want to sound like an old grouch myself, but somehow the movie didn’t feel as magical to me as some of Pixar’s previous films. Both Ratatouille and Wall-E had to sacrifice some of the surface entertainment for their art, but I think the pay off was stronger. Here we have a movie about living out your dream and coming to terms with your mortality. The story is simple enough to read all kinds of messages into it, but it’s not compelling enough to keep us constantly riveted.
To me, the question isn’t whether or not animation can be used to tell mature stories. Of course it can. The real question is whether or not it should be. I kind of think that if you’re going for a cute, cartoony style, then that comes with certain expectations, and unless you’re going to seriously subvert those expectations, you’re just disappointing your audience. I just miss the unpretentious fun that Pixar movies used to deliver, before they got a little too concerned with telling grown-up stories disguised as movies for kids.
I feel I should also point out that the use of 3-D in this particular movie was pretty unspectacular — it provided multiple layers to the environment: nothing more, nothing less. I suppose it’s good that it wasn’t distracting, but it was not worth the extra money either. Overall, Up is impressive on a technical level, with moments of cinematic brilliance and a handful of laughs, but it pulled in two different directions that didn’t quite complement each other. I seem to be in the minority here, but I honestly think I’m looking forward to another pure popcorn sequel like Toy Story 3 rather than Pixar’s next attempt at high brow art. — Sean
SCORE: 
Recommended If You Like: The Incredibles, Bolt, Grumpy Old Men
Comments (41)
Once again Sean channels exactly how I felt about a movie. Thank teh GODS! I really was beginning to feel like a Cylon: the Brother Cavil model.
Posted by Dave on May 31st, 2009“The real question is whether or not it should be.”
I think Grave of the Fireflies makes such a question moot.
If its good, its good.
Posted by Goon on May 31st, 2009But what if it could be better but instead is just kind of. . .there?
Posted by Dave on May 31st, 2009People are forming a wall around this movie, the kind of “If you don’t like this, we can’t be friends anymore” hubris a starved society musters. I distrust anyone who decrees a film to be “perfect” and most net hyperbole is just white noise to me.
Posted by Dave on May 31st, 2009Well, I should just say I haven’t seen it yet. Now don’t get me wrong, I love Pixar and agree with just about everyone that they’re the most consistent bankable thing out there… But I agree that Wall-E wasn’t as good as it was said to be, and that Cars is pretty meh, an animated version of Doc Hollywood really (and yet if you look at merch and box office, its the most successful film they’ve produced). I remember when Cars came out some of the very people now clamoring for the popcorn Pixar were asking for something more adult and that Cars was too weighted for the kids.
I thought Sean was one of the people on board for a more adult direction when Pixar was ready to split with Disney. Or was that Jay? Someone voiced that.
Anyways, I’m looking forward to Up but am hardly expecting it to be some litmus test movie. I’m just looking for a good story. The only thing I’m expecting to fall in love with is that Dug dog, which has grabbed my attention every time I’ve seen it.
Posted by Goon on May 31st, 2009I have movies I deem “perfect”. When I use a term like that I’m saying I wouldn’t change a thing and could not complain or nitpick about a thing, and in addition it reached me on a visceral level beyond any technical merits.
Posted by Goon on May 31st, 2009I feel that way about Drag Me to Hell but I’m a far cry away from using the all encompassing word “perfect.” If that’s too popcorn for you, might I present our discussion on Synecdoche, NY on The Rotcast. That film reached me on a very visceral level but I could still find things to “critique” about it.
I guess what it boils down to is either your a fan of a film or your not. You can like a film without being a fan, but a movie you’re a fan of you talk about with the same kind of rose colored bias one uses when talking about a loved one. There are certainly films I am a fan of and can understand where you’re coming from, Goon. The kind of frenzied behavior associated with Pixar’s name goes beyond that.
Posted by Dave on May 31st, 2009Straight up, Pixars fanboys don’t annoy me one iota near as much as comic book fanboys or anything of the like. And that is probably because I’m going to give a lot of rope to a company that puts out a movie every year now with an original story with this much work put into it. It’s going to take a lot more to make me resort to a last resort “its not the band I hate its their fans” defence.
Posted by Goon on May 31st, 2009For the record, my biggest problem with Up is its script. It pushes you through an emotional ringer to start and then asks you to accept a pedestrian second act that shoehorns a bunch of secondary characters. It can’t seem to decide on who the comic relief character should be so it homogenizes them all. By the time I got the ending I was left with a feeling of apathy, same as I was with Cars and, to a lesser extent, Wall-E.
Not to say the film doesn’t have its moments. Pixar’s ability to tell a pure visual story is second to none in my book and even a jaded soul like myself was touched by how the film opened. There are also some very funny lines, but they can be cherry picked from the script and don’t seem to mesh with the whole. Also, I am a dog owner. I love my dogs. I did not love Dug the Dog.
Anyway, as Andrew Ryan said: a man chooses, a slave obeys.
Posted by Dave on May 31st, 2009I don’t hate Pixar fans. Hell, I *am* a Pixar fan! I just don’t treat them with same reverence as most people. Even Barack Obama gets gas sometimes.
Posted by Dave on May 31st, 2009“It pushes you through an emotional ringer to start and then asks you to accept a pedestrian second act that shoehorns a bunch of secondary characters. It can’t seem to decide on who the comic relief character should be so it homogenizes them all. By the time I got the ending I was left with a feeling of apathy”
Absolutely everything you said here describes my feelings on Star Trek, which is getting about an equal amount of critical hype and acclaim.
Chacun son gout.
Posted by Goon on May 31st, 2009Would you believe I name drop on the next Rotcast in reference to that very movie?
Posted by Dave on May 31st, 2009Sorry, name drop *you*.
Posted by Dave on May 31st, 2009(okay, so the George Kirk stuff isnt exactly an ‘emotional wringer’, but it was easily my favorite, most involving part of the movie)
Posted by Goon on May 31st, 2009“Sorry, name drop *you*.”
about 70% of shows name drop me at this point, so I’m not suprised. I figured it would happen anyways since you said you’d be going over Summer Heights High.
Posted by Goon on May 31st, 2009I will now avoid any more Pixar discussion until I see it because a website I look at sometimes for showtimes that also allows people to rate and comment (I didnt know, nobody usually comments) spoiled what seems to be a major plot point. Drat!
Posted by Goon on May 31st, 2009We’re doing a TV centric episode next covering Breaking Bad, The Wire, Weeds, Summer Heights High, and We Can Be Heroes. James just needs to get caught up. And since you’re done here I guess I am too. I have a feeling this thread is about to flood.
Posted by Dave on May 31st, 2009I loved the movie Up and I’m delighted that Pixar is considering a break-way from Disney.
Posted by Christopher on May 31st, 2009WALL-E was not that good. Not even the best PIXAR film. I never got why so many people were so protective of that movie… Cars was also pretty bad.
UP looks terrific. And if enjoying movies that are “grown-up stories disguised as movies for kids” is wrong, then I don’t wanna be right. Afterall, that’s half the fun of these movies is seeing how they can work the adult joke in with the kid joke. It’s magic when the grown-ups and their kids can laugh at the same joke but for totally different reasons. Magic.
Posted by Shut-Up Ed on May 31st, 2009Saw Up. I thought it was pretty damn great… but no, not perfect. The kid wasn’t so endearing and the sequences treading through the jungle to start weren’t so perfectly put together. It regained its footing though and once it did it went along quite nicely with a great finish.
I didnt really feel it was THAT adult, for all thats been said about it. It was partially the Miyazaki whimsical kind of ‘adult’ but there was still a lot of the traditional Pixar fare, and the crowd i saw it with was laughing about as consistently as any other Pixar movie.
Anyways Dave, I guess I’m going to have to hurry up and finish We Can Be Heroes before your next show. Haven’t finished it yet.
Posted by Goon on May 31st, 2009oh, and I didnt see it in 3d, but will probably if i go again.
You know, I actually partially think maybe the 3d experience can suck the heart out of a movie. I remember leaving Coraline feeling completely apathetic whereas so many found it so remarkable
Posted by Goon on May 31st, 2009I saw it in GLORIOUS 2D, While a good film, it is middle of the road for pixar, felt somewhat unfinished, and I hated anything to do with the dogs (outside of Dug, who was charming).
yea, the more I think about it, the ‘villain’ dogs felt like they should have been in a Jerry Bruckheimer kids production, there was a trailer in front of UP for Secret Spy Hamsters (I don’t recall the title), where they would have fit in fine.
Posted by Kurt on May 31st, 2009hell no i couldnt get enough of the dogs. I (like Jay) am not a laugh out loud person, but when the dog hit the squeeky toy to fire a plane that he is somehow able to fly, i couldn’t stop myself.
Posted by Goon on May 31st, 2009Since I’m not constricted to the .5 system, it wouldve been a 3.25 or so for me – room for improvement but still solid, and placing it squarely within the middle of the Pixar film pack. I actually do though, prefer it to Monsters Inc, which I like a lot as well and loved even more at the time but now having seen it again recently clearly isn’t their best work.
Posted by Goon on May 31st, 2009Dave: Phew, glad to hear I’m not alone. I was starting to feel like Reed Farrington for a minute there.
Goon: In theory I have no problem with Pixar going in a more adult direction. I liked both Ratatouille and Wall-E but didn’t go ga-ga over them like most other people did. That said, I think both of them are definitely much stronger films than Up.
Kurt: I believe the movie you saw the trailer for was G-Force. And you’re right, a lot of the dog stuff could have fit right in there.
Posted by Sean on May 31st, 2009Up is still a very good film. Don’t get me wrong. I just think with the high bar of Pixar with these sorts of things, Up is actually a lesser entry into their growing collection.
It’s still a far cry better than Cars & A Bugs Life though.
Posted by Kurt on May 31st, 2009Everyone shits all over A Bug’s Life, and I wish some of them would revisit it.
Back then I thought Antz and Bugs Life were about even. I rewatched both of them within the last couple months. Bugs Life still holds up. Antz has aged terribly, just terribly.
Posted by Goon on May 31st, 2009A Bug’s Life is a fine film. It holds up because the voice actors had some really good comedic timing and the script told a good, albeit well worn, tale.
Posted by Dave on June 1st, 2009I also enjoyed A Bug’s Life. I didn’t mind Antz either. Looking back on it, Antz had Shrek-ish type humor and that usually means that it will age bad.
Posted by Pr1mal on June 1st, 2009The last time I watched Antz I had a really hard time getting past the overall look of the film. This might sound nit-picky, and I know ants live underground, but does every background in the movie need to be brown dirt?
Posted by mrbenning on June 1st, 2009I’m just saying (And I like the Seven Samurai story) that Pixar has come a long way in terms of taking chances and realizing their stories since A Bug’s Life.
Posted by Kurt on June 1st, 2009Loved the film and second to the review.
Posted by Rony on June 1st, 2009“Pixar has come a long way in terms of taking chances”
Yes they have, but they’re not quite to the point where they’re going the full distance with that (see Wall-E’s second half). It doesn’t change A Bug’s Life being a good film in spite of its age. Hell, Toy Story 2 will be 10 years old this year and it’s still their best movie imo.
Posted by Dave on June 1st, 2009You gave this the same rating as Terminator? Come on, man.
Posted by Justice on June 1st, 2009Less, actually.
Posted by Sean on June 2nd, 2009argh, You’re going to tell me that this movie is worse than that over-bloated piece of junk? Admittedly, it isn’t Pixar’s best, but its still light years ahead of Terminator.
Posted by Justice on June 2nd, 2009Comparing the ratings for two totally different kinds of movies is difficult and arbitrary, but I do think I got more out of Terminator Salvation.
I have to admit though, I’m surprised there aren’t more people voicing the same concern. I was worried there would be a wave of pro-Pixar people on here telling me I was an idiot, but so far that hasn’t happened. Maybe more people were underwhelmed with Up than I originally thought.
Posted by Sean on June 2nd, 2009While theres a lot of perfect scores, I think more of views like yours are out there. I mean yours is still a positive review, by RT’s standards if you were counted you’d be counted among the hypers pushing it towards 100%
Posted by Goon on June 2nd, 2009I don’t think you’re an idiot Sean. In fact, I agree with you most of the time. That being said, I had a lot of fun with Up. I’ll agree that there were some emotional moments that felt a tad forced, but I wouldn’t call the movie pretentious. I do think that people need to settle down a little bit when referring to this as a “masterpiece.”
Posted by Neil M on June 6th, 2009Sean,
I’ll bet you are under 30.
I’m over 50, and I thought that UP was an incredibly sweet movie that had a lesson in it that EVERYBODY needs to learn….yes, it is important to have your dreams, and to work for your dreams….but don’t get so hung up on them that you forget to live! Carl learned that Ellie had NOT been shortchanged (And thinking back of what we know of Ellie the album should NOT have been a surprise–but it was at the time!). It really is the little things that you remember the best–and turn out to have been the most important.
I think you’re wrong, the heavy emotions that got dropped on us at the beginnning of the film WERE resolved–we watched the resolutions in the film. And the reason the ending relationship between Carl and Russel was predictable is because after a shared adventure like that, and having learned the lessons in the way they did, the ending was virtually inevitable.
The thing was–the cartoon was so good, you didn’t even know you were being taught a lesson.
Posted by Steve on June 7th, 2009Don’t be a buch of “i don’t like it”, for sure Sean, and his gang, have seen thousands of pictures this year that have a great history and deserve 10 oscars… i would love to see against what stardards of art you compare the movies to say that was not enough?
even more… you sound like the guys that feel over everything and just don’t like it because if you don’t anyone would read your middel tought reviews…
Posted by Erick on June 15th, 2009Leave a Reply