Up
Directed by Pete Doctor
Four Stars
There is such an elegance and warmth in Disney Pixar's way of story-telling. Up, the new film from the animation powerhouse that has brought us Finding Nemo, Toy Story and about a billion other family classics in the last fifteen years, is just about the most fantastical of the lot. It tells the kind of story that the Japanese master Hayao Mayazaki has been telling his entire career, using a soaring fable to communicate a very simple, and imperative, truth -- don't be afraid to follow your dreams.
Carl Fredricksen is a young kid with a hankering for adventure. When we meet him he's a chubby-faced, doe-eyed little kid. He meets Ellie, a girl who has the same passion for adventure and is rich with anticipation for what is to come in her life. The young couple make a vow, that one day Carl will get Ellie to Paradise Falls in South America -- a vow that fades into childhood memory as the couple grow up, marry and spend their life together, with Carl making a living as a helium balloon salesman. A lovely opening montage warms the cockles of our hearts without trying too hard, and instills in us a trust and affection towards Carl (voiced as an old man by Edward Asner) that invests us in his fate for the rest of the movie.
After a long life together, Ellie passes suddenly, leaving Carl on his own. With the threat of demolition to his beloved house by a real estate developer looming large, Carl decides to do something drastic. Here's where your grown-up suspension of disbelief has to kick in. Carl tethers thousands of helium balloons to his house and lifts off. A young kid named Russell (Jordon Nagai) who needs one more badge to become a senior Wilderness Explorer Scout, finds himself on Carl's front porch when lift-off takes place, and thus finds himself along for the ride. The pair relentlessly travel the skies, looking for Paradise Falls.
It's not a spoiler to say that they do eventually reach Paradise Falls. What awaits for them there forms the primary conflict of the story. It involves Charles Muntz (Christopher Plummer), a famous explorerand an idol of Carl's youth, and dogs with collars that enable them to speak. Dug (Bob Petersen) is a kind dog who takes a shine to Carl and Russel, while Alpha (also Bob Petersent) is an evil minion of Muntz's. The way the dogs are written by Up's screenwriters Bob Peterson and Peter Docter are one of the many joys of the film. Far from being a heart-warming family story, Up is also hysterically funny, usually in ways that will go way over the heads of the kids in the audience.
Once more, Pixar has proven that they are in touch with how people, young and old, like to watch movies. Audiences are all for high-emotion climaxes, but they don't want to be pandered to or preached at. Up makes us emote the smart way. They build characters, make us like them. Eventually when the characters discover something about themselves, we care because we like the character, not because a big swelling of music tells us that we need to react.
There are so many wonderful visual touches in Up, from the way that light is reflected through Carl's balloons and into a little girl's room, creating a kaleidoscope of colours, to the unique but familiar slant of Carl's house. This is not a by-the-numbers children's flick. Every artistic decision has clearly been painstakingly considered, and contributes to a rich mosaic. The look and feel of a Pixar movie has been honed throughout its illustrious decades-long history, and their films seem to be getting better with age. Up is as much a visual artistic experience as it is a narrative triumph.
By now I'm sure you have gathered that I think Up is one of the best movies of the year. I implore you to seek it out. You will find yourself, as I did, surprisingly emotionally invested in, and amused by the fate of this old crank, his young friend, and his precarious but defiant symbol of devotion to his wife, his hovering house. Up is a complete blast.
Jonathan Fisher
September 11, 2009
Featured at The Film Brief
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