Michael S. Pascua The Life of a Freelancer

Quick Review: Disney/Pixar’s Up

Up's Logo. ©Pixar

I don’t get out often. I have some rewards program where I can watch movies free on Tuesdays, but I haven’t gotten the opportunity to use it. Last night I had a teleconference, and usually during the Spring/Fall I’m covering Dancing with the Stars. Anywho, I finally got out of the house to watch Up in 3D. There’s that mysterious charm that Up has that continues the Pixar legacy. A lot of recent Disney movies don’t have that charm anymore (probably Enchanted was the last one that had that charm). I had mostly praise for the movie after getting out. I felt invigorated and moved; something a movie hasn’t done in a while.

One thing that I love is that Up gives you the whole premise in the first fifteen minutes. After watching Key Largo (Oh Boogie and Bacall), I noticed that a lot of old movies will give you text to read and then jump right into the storyline. Up goes the other route and gives a vignette of Carl’s life all the way up until present. His life is like many: sometimes you can’t catch a break… or when it rains, it pours.

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Visually, the movie was stunning. I thought that the blue-ness of sky was going to be a challenge, but the depiction of sky in this movie continues the trend of Pixar films like Wall-E and Finding Nemo (both conquered space and underwater beautifully) The colors are bright and the movie is beautiful in 3D. The biggest thing about the 3D that I loved was that the movie didn’t resort to silly 3D tricks. The movie basically created depth perception, making the viewer feel immersed in the environment.

I thought that all the characters were developed well. I adore Carl and was afraid that he was going to be like Wall-E where he only made grunts and didn’t actually talk, but when he did it showed character and connection. As for Russell, I think I have a soft spot for the little fat Asian kid. Dug and Kevin are also really well fleshed out, especially since they are animals. The one thing I think I grazed over was the fact that the house itself was a character. It’s probably the most important thing about the movie.

I must be desensitized; I didn’t even realize that Up was a PG movie. As a twenty-something, I thought the movie fit both for children and adults. In retrospect, it probably became PG because of the use of guns and the occasional beaten dog. If any parent was worried about the violence level, they shouldn’t be.

The biggest thing that I was surprised about was how well the opening short, Partly Cloudy, matched with Up. As much as I liked both Presto and Lifted, neither continued the themes from Wall-E and Ratatouille. The short paralleled both the evolution of friendship and the beautiful imagery of the sky. Somehow Gus won me over because he reminded me of Eric’s father who makes some occasional avant-garde pieces.

In the end I loved Up, I felt like the pacing went well (maybe a tad bit rushed) and although we never get an explanation as to why Dug doesn’t have a greek letter name (IE Delta), most of the plotline was solved by the end. I guess I’m biased towards things Disney/Pixar, but you can’t argue the high quality level of these things.

My score: 97%