Up
Starring: Ed Asner, Christopher PlummerDirector: Pete Docter, Bob Peterson
Year of Release: 2009
Pixar is really good as delivering a quality story along with it’s top-notch animation. It never fails to connect with it’s audience and use computer-animation as an artistic storytelling tool instead of a flashy gimmick. Up continues in that tradition and it is a quality movie. However, this film feels the least “fun” out of all the previous films. Overall it’s kind of a downer and not really something I would want to take a kid to. And the story itself just lacks a lot of the punch and cleverness of their earlier films. I’m not saying every Pixar film should be Finding Nemo or Toy Story, but these films are marketed to kids. And there just isn’t a lot here for kids to feel good about or relate to. Plus the entire first part of the film leading up to the main story of the floating house is a big bummer. It was a really gloomy way to start out and it really didn’t get much better until the very end.
Nevertheless, the overall movie maintained Pixar’s high standards. And I did appreciate the not-so-subtle message of our “baggage” weighing us down and keeping us from moving on and living in the present. Up is definitely worth seeing and has a lot of heart, but I would not put it up in the top grouping of Pixar films.
