UP [2009] review
November 14, 2009 · Print This Article
“They’ve done it again,” should be the official tagline for Pixar animation studios because with 2009′s UP, they have indeed done it again. WALL*E was a perfect masterpiece of a movie to me. I can still feel watching it. The premise for UP did not have me believing Pixar could even get close to the mastery of WALL*E and I was left wondering how UP would awe and entertain me. I was blown away after the opening scenes.
The score for UP is perfect. Michael Giacchonio did a wonderful job of composing just the right amount of nostalgia with modern adventure. One of my biggest concerns was including a chubby kid as a main character, but there is not a single overt fat joke in the entire movie. Nothing gross either. These things are what elevate Pixar films to masterpiece level.
The plot is set in motion by a scene of pure fantasy that does not take much to go with. An old man tying thousands of balloons to his house so he can fly away…I had no trouble with that. I just wondered what he would do for the rest of the movie? My worry was quickly alleviated as the adventure that followed was solidly rooted in what the old man crossed his heart to one day do. One could believe with such motivation a man of such long years could find the energy to will himself into accomplishing his dream.
UP also contains the best 5-minute romance I’ve ever scene, and one of the best on screen romances of any length. The twist was what got me on board the movie immediately.
UP is not in the WALL*E stratosphere because of a somewhat violent ending. Despite the many fantasy scenes the viewer has to just accept, a final scene with small airplanes I did not buy and did not think needed to be in the movie.
Other than that, there are just so many small touches that make the movie a masterpiece, like how the old man’s stubble grows as the days press on. I do not think I have seen that in an animated character before. The animation itself is of course the highest level. They way Pixar animates the weight of objects is outstanding.
It comforts me greatly to know that a consistent level of greatness is being achieved in Hollywood. That one movie studio is not being infiltrated by gimmicks. Pixar is just simply, doing it again, and again.
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