Up - Review
Reviewed by Mr Estall and his Oiks.
Oik #2 (age 11½) – Blood and balloons
At last, Pixar’s 10th feature film, UP, a movie that contains balloons, blimps and wilderness explorers.
I just want to get something straight, the first fifteen minutes of the movie are extremely sad, it’s difficult to not think it’s sad, because of its intense sadness. The first fifteen minutes of the movie are by far, sadder than the whole Jessie story in Toy Story 2.
For those of you who are a bit squeamish, look away when Carl Frederickson’s mailbox gets torn off.
And while I think about it, how many balloons do you think it would take in real life to lift a house? Thousands, possibly millions of balloons!
But aside from that, it is a funny movie. You know in every comedy there’s a character who has the most jokes? Well in UP, it’s Doug the dog who has a collar that makes him talk. Crazy, yet effective.
UP is possibly the most realistic Pixar movie EVER.
Anyway, that about wraps UP my review in a big neat bow. I have to say, that was a funny movie, it was so good, I’m giving it a big 5 STARS, oh yeah.
Was it worth the entrance fee? Yes definitely.
Would you recommend it to your friends? Oh yeah!
So if you had a choice, would you have a talking dog or a house that flies? It’s got to be a talking dog, it would be much easier to get them off the sofa when you want to watch TV!
Oik #1 (age 14¾) – Hot air ballooning has never been more fun...
After 2008's incredible WALL●E, Pixar was clearly under a lot of pressure to produce something in 2009 that was equally as brilliant. Then a man called Pete Docter arrived and thought up a crazy idea called 'Up', about a balloon seller called Carl Fredricksen (Ed Asner) who dreams of travelling to the top of a stupidly high South American waterfall and living there.
Unfortunately, Carl's wife passes away and he is left living on his own, in a world slowly degrading into a nightmarish city all around him and his home. This is when Russell (Jordan Nagai), an overeager Wilderness Scout, knocks on Carl's door and becomes obsessed with trying to help Carl with anything possible.
When the old age retirement home beckons, Carl decides to finally move away... by tying hundreds of colourful balloons to his chimney and flying himself and his house away with him. But another inconvenience is caused to Carl when Russell is found on his porch, yet again trying to help the old man.
The laughs in this film come thick and fast. Moments like Dug (the Dog) talking and then interrupting himself by shouting 'Squirrel!' are really well thought up. And then the fifteen minute opening sequence with the life and death of Ellie Fredricksen just sends the waterworks running on any feeble hearted person in the room. [Ed: You can tell this has been written by a fourteen year old boy!]
One thing I do need to point out though is that the title is misleading – more of the movie is spent with the house going down than up as the helium in the balloons slowly deflates over the course of the movie.
Nevertheless, this is a brilliant, laugh filled, and (at points) tear jerking adventure in all of its two-hour running time. A wonderful way to spend a couple of hours if you want some funny moments, or just if you fancy seeing the next Pixar film.
Was it worth the entrance fee? Yes, six quid is, in my mind, totally worth it.
Would you recommend it to your friends? Yep, it's something that everyone, young and old, should see!
Is it better than Beverly Hills Chihuahua? Yes. Oh God yes.
Mr Estall (age 43¼) – A 2D tour de force
I think what most impressed me with Up is how Pixar is continuing to hone its storytelling skills with wit and pathos. The first ten minutes of the film provide the back story to Carl Fredericksen, the elderly widower whose love for his departed wife, and fear of losing his house, persuade him to go on the adventure he always promised his dear Ellie. This sequence has charm, humour and some truly heartbreaking moments as it tells the story of Carl and Ellie’s life, and the events that lead to him to escape the rat race in search of the mythical Paradise Falls.
That’s not to say that Up doesn’t have all the ingredients of a great family movie; it has hilarious gags and terrific action sequences, and a foe that is just scary enough for the film’s U certificate, but to their credit Pixar never seem to make something that is only ‘good enough’ and instead strive to make the best cinematic film possible.
The visuals are as stunning as those seen in WALL●E and The Incredibles. I particularly liked the soft focus shots during the back story and how the style of the animation, whilst firmly in the ‘cartoon’ category rather than being photorealistic, nevertheless had a solid three-dimensional feel to it… even though we watched it in traditional and gloriously flat 2D. I will leave the argument over 2D vs 3D to other, more Kermodean reviewers, but suffice it to say that this film fan is not convinced that the 3D ‘immersive experience’ is really worth either the additional cost or the inconvenience of having to wear flimsy plastic specs.
Was it worth the entrance fee? Absolutely.
Would you recommend it to your friends? And again, absolutely – you have to see every new Pixar film, and you have to see it in the cinema.
So come on then, own up, were you the (in Oik #2’s words) “feeble hearted person” who turned on “the waterworks”? Hmm, well actually it was Mrs Estall who was in floods of tears during that opening sequence, but I have to admit to some dampness in the eye region too. It would take a heart of stone, or the youthful indifference of a greasy teenage Oik, not to be affected.