Movie Review: Pixar’s ‘UP’

78 year old Carl Fredricksen sets out on the voyage of a life when he rigs his house with thousands of balloons to make it fly. Fredricksen is trying to fulfill a life-long dream by taking his home to a place that he has only dreamed of. Once he is in the air, he finds that he has an uninvited young stowaway by the name of Russell aboard his vessel who wants nothing more than to assist the elderly Fredricksen. What’s the worst that could happen?

Pixar does not disappoint with its latest animated fare ‘UP’. This is one of the best told stories this year in main stream cinema. I was very pleased to see this film. The story of an old man who ties balloons to his house to make it fly doesn’t sound interesting on paper, but it’s all in how you tell it on screen.  Pixar does what they normally do and takes obscure subject matter and manages to make it enjoyable for the entire audience. We get this likable child character and this ornery old man in a heartfelt comedic adventure. There is a great balance of action and comedy mixed with a simple, yet compelling story. Plus, weird birds and talking dogs! Who doesn’t want that in a picture?

However, it’s not all rainbows and sunshine. I felt that this had some of the most adult oriented subject matter for a Pixar film to date.  There is a very sad underlying story of Fredricksen and his wife Ellie. My favorite part of the movie is very early in the beginning where we get to see Fredricksen and Ellie as they meet and grow old together. There is very little to no dialogue and we get this complex representation of their lives together. It’s sweet and heartwarming with some real life occurrences that all people must face. And it’s only about five minutes or so long, but you get an intensely in depth story from it. I was watching the film with my wife and hoped that my marriage would be as long and full of love as the Fredricksen’s.

As an added bonus there is a great little short film before the feature called Partly Cloudy. It’s a cute story of how babies are brought into the world. Storks and clouds are the main characters of the film and it’s a great little piece. There is no dialogue and is just another reason why Pixar rocks.

This film had so many great tones to it and really showed, once again, what Pixar is made of. I think the symbolism of a house that flies with balloons is a perfect way to look at Pixar’s career. The sky’s the limit when you have imagination and it looks like they will keep bringing us quality films for years to come.

Fanboyz Grade: A