Up is Disney Pixar's latest film to grace our cinema screens since the brilliant Wall-E last year, and my god I've missed Pixar. Pixar is so unbelievably imaginative and brilliant, that I just have to watch one of them every month or so. Toy Story is the clear favourite, but Finding Nemo and The Incredibles are extremely close. But, what really makes this stand out from the rest? Well, it's in 3D of course, and me being and avid film reviewer and cinema-goer, I decided to see it in...2D.
Don't get me wrong, 3D is really good, and I'm looking forward hugely to the December epic, Avatar, which will be totally in 3D. But there're some films that I really don't see why it's 3D. The Final Destination was in 3D, and that really didn't add much to the movie, even though it was poor, I didn't see the point of it. I think Up is much of the same. I was watching it trying to figure out where the 3D moments would be, cause I really couldn't see many. Maybe the title "Up" in the sky would've been 3D, and possibly the blimp and Kevin's beak would be 3D, but that's really about it. I'll watch a film in 3D, but only if the film was made to be seen in 3D, not just that it's available in 3D if you wish.
Now, to the film. The story is simple, an old man ties a million balloons to his house and floats away. And even that's brilliant in itself, but the story is so different from anything we've ever seen, and from the people who brought us Toy Story, that's an incredible feat. But, this film contains something Pixar has never done before - true sadness. Toy Story 2 came close with Jessie's song, but there's been no real sadness that do make you feel sad. After the first 5 minutes, there is a 5 - 10 minute montage, completely silent with a slow piano playing in the background. I won't give away what happens, but it really is sad, and it makes you feel for old Carl, who, on a side note, is an absolute spitting image of my Grandpa. And that's where the film really gets started, you feel sorry for Carl, and you will him on in every where he goes, him and his unintentional sidekick, Russell, all the way to their epic adventure through a South American jungle.
We all love those small facial expressions, the attention to detail, the real life-likeness of the whole thing. That's what Pixar is all about. It's CGI, but it feels so real, like anything can happen. And that really is what happened. Anything could happen, and I think that was it's slight downfall for me. I loved it, yes, but I noticed something's that didn't quite match up. Like at the beginning of the movie, Carl needed a walking stick badly, and was walking very slowly and tentatively. But as the movie went on, he started running around like he was 22. He was 76. Now, maybe that was the point of the film, to show what happens when you fulfil your dreams, but I'm probably looking to deep into things, but I thought that wasn't like Pixar. Pixar always do things spot on, and in Up, it wasn't quite right in my book.
Russell, for me, was the absolute star of the show. You just couldn't help but laugh or just crack a smile whenever you saw him, because he really was a comically brilliant character. His many one-liners had me laughing out loud, as usual, and I loved him, he was brilliant.
I love Pixar. They're just unbelievable. But, I don't think this film is as good as the others. Wall-E. Finding Nemo. Toy Story. Toy Story 2. A Bug's Life. The Incredibles. They were all better than this one in my book. You come out smiling, oh you do, and it makes you laugh, but they've done better. And seen as I recently saw another animation, Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs, given the choice, I'd take Cloudy.
7.7/10
Please Toy Story 3. Be absolutely wonderful.
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