Pixar continues its long-standing tradition of first-rate, must-see films, with Up, a sweet tale about an old man who ties balloons to his house in order to travel to the mythical Paradise Falls in South America. Edward Asner voices Carl Fredricksen, a cranky 70-year-old whose life has stalled ever since his wife and childhood love, Ellie, died suddenly. Ellie’s lifelong wish was to live next to the waterfall in South America, and so, with the help of young Russell (voiced to perfection by Jordan Nagai), a stocky wannabe adventurer, Carl ties thousands of balloons and takes off on a journey that includes battling a pack of wild dogs, making friends with a mythical bird (named Kevin, despite it being a female), rescuing a dog named Dug (voiced by co-director Bob Peterson), and matching wits with infamous explorer Charles Muntz (Christopher Plummer). Pixar’s latest is without a doubt one their best features and is consistently more interesting and satisfying than last year’s much-lauded Wall-E. Pixar so thoroughly offers up consistent masterpieces that it’s becoming something of a cliché to constantly extol their efforts. Real news will be made if they ever offer up a film that’s below their standards. I can’t see that happening any time soon, however, seeing how each one of their films pushes the boundaries of animation and storytelling. Directors Pete Docter and Bob Peterson strike the right balance of slapstick comedy, high-stakes action, and melancholy, while offering entertainment that’s as close to pure cinema as there is. While the first 20 minutes or so of Wall-E gave us a brilliant silent film, the sequence in Up that chronicles the relationship between Ellie and Carl through their childhood and into old age is a masterstroke of filmmaking. This is what cinema is supposed to be, right? One particularly standout action sequence near the end, where Carl, Russell and Dug battle a giant blimp flown by Muntz, rivals some of Spielberg’s and Peter Jackson’s best work. Simply put, Up is fantastic, heartwarming and pure filmmaking at its best. But you already knew that.
Richard Saad
© Cinephile Magazine, 2009