Up Review

I’ve kind of fallen behind on my summer movie watching.

It’s been due to a combination of less-than-inspiring choices ("Terminator: Salvation" doesn’t have the best word of mouth; it feels like I’ll be watching "Angels and Demons" on TNT two years from now), sheer laziness and economic restraints. I suspect I’m not the only one.

However, what if I were to tell you that the funniest/most exciting/most touching movie of the year (so far) could all be found in one package - is that something you might be interested in? (I’m saving you time AND money here people!)

Of course, you don’t need me to tell you that a Pixar production is the closest we have to a sure thing as far as quality filmmaking is concerned. (I don’t feel like ranting once again about how the Academy wrongfully excludes Pixar films from its major categories simply because "they’re cartoons" - and I’m sure you don’t want to hear it.)

"Up", the studio’s latest triumph, is the story of Carl Fredricksen (the voice of Ed Asner), a lonely widower who ties thousands of balloons to his house and floats away to embark on the adventure he never got around to having while his wife was still alive. Along for the ride is Russell (Jordan Nagai), a young wilderness scout in search of his final badge (for "Assisting the Elderly") who stows away on Carl’s trip.

As is always the case with Pixar productions, "Up" has just as much material for adults as it does for their children. In this case, the movie explores the way most grown-ups eventually compromise their childhood dreams when life gets in the way - Carl and Ellie’s marriage is portrayed in a magnificent, wordless sequence with composer Michael Giacchino’s terrific music doing most of the storytelling - and how sometimes the best moments in life are the more mundane instances shared with a loved one. In fact, I’d actually say that this is Pixar’s most grown-up movie. (The brief depictions of blood, not once, but twice actually startled me a bit, but ultimately served to enhance the story.)

The sneaky way in which Pixar hits the sweet spot for us non-kiddies is by keeping it simple. Meaning their movies take us back to a seemingly simpler time when, for example, people drove off the highway for fun ("Cars") or played with Army men and pull-string dolls ("Toy Story"). By finding brilliant, ingenious ways of telling old-fashioned stories, these movies make us nostalgic for stuff we may not even have been exposed to. In "Up", I was a little jealous that Carl as a young boy could be so wowed of newsreel footage of his hero, explorer Charles Muntz (Christopher Plummer), and watching him play outside (what a concept!) with young Ellie reminded me my pre-Playstation days.

At the risk of sounding too heady, let me remind you that this movie is also hilarious. In their travels, Carl and Russell encounter a gigantic, chocolate-loving exotic bird (the simple fact that he’s called Kevin makes me laugh) and a pack of dogs outfitted with collars that allow their thoughts to be expressed through words. Both of these things could’ve been one-note/cheap jokes, but the filmmakers (led by "Monsters Inc." director Pete Docter) have a great time with it, especially the dogs. (I laugh to myself thinking about Alpha - sweet, dim-witted Dug is alsoa standout.)

Asner does a good job. His cranky old man routine is a perfect and natural fit for the character. However, I was actually more impressed by newcomer Nagai as Russell. The character could’ve been a stock annoying sidekick or a stock precocious kid, but ends up transcending both clichés.

The animation is, once again, incredible (and almost sneaky good). There aren’t as many obvious set pieces to showcase the animators’ work as there were in something like "Wall-E", (other than some early sequences with the flying house) but the fantastical world is still fully-realized. The action sequences are exciting because they look great and because, in a controversial move, the writers have actually made us care about the characters and, by extension, what happens to them.

The movie isn’t perfect. For some reason, I was ok with the dogs talking and serving food, but having them be able to fly planes was too much. More importantly, the movie conspicuously neglected to explain how one character who should NOT have been alive was perfectly ok.

Still, while it may not be perfect, "Up" is still the best movie of the year.

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