If Pixar- as a studio- has any weakness, it's they have no idea how to make a bad film. It has been 14 years since their first movie (Toy Story) and they are still consistently releasing entertaining movies that are not only freakin hilarious but has such a deep level of storytelling to. Pixar I salute you. Too bad you have to be owned by an ass of a company called Disney.
So Up is the latest from Pixar and though I still prefer Wall-E over Up, this movie is easily in my top 10 favourite animation films. I think Up is the most mature Pixar film to date. I mean this is the first time I've seen blood in a Pixar movie and the film deals with a lot of adult issues like divorce, death, poaching and stuff like that. So you'd think a movie with this much adult content will be more serious, hell no.. This movie had me laughing my guts deep the whole time.
So Up is about Carl Fredrickson and the movie opens with him as a kid meeting this girl, and the next 10 minutes we see their life story, growing up together and getting married and eventually Carl's wife dies. And one of the things they wanted to do together was travel to South America cause his wife always dreamed of building a house over a famous waterfall. So after she dies... I guess Carl had a nervous breakdown or something cause he decides, overnight, to blow up a billion balloons and fly his house to South America and fulfill his wife's dream.
Along the way we get introduced to new characters like Russell (a Japanese boy scout who's dad doesn't love him), Dug (a dog that can talk thanks to some high tech collar) and Kevin (a rare bird). And other characters to like the army of dogs which are so so so hilarious.
Up hits you in all the right places with it's charm and comedy and leaves you in tears with it's heartfelt story and touching score. It's perfect testament that animation films are able to achieve a higher level of engagement with the audience and still have a great storyline with great characters compared to live action movies.
There are so many parts of this movie that I really really liked. But the one that I can't possibly give enough praise for is the first 10 minutes of the movie. It's just so sweet and beautiful and ultimately heartbreaking in the end. I was actually close to tearing up at the end of the first 10 minutes. And that's saying a lot about the film coming from me cause I'm usually a heartless SOB.
And because piracy is so awesome.. Here's the the best part of the first 10 minutes. Don't worry, it doesn't spoil anything. Enjoy!
RATING: 9/10
