Review: Up (2009)
Directed by: Pete Docter & Bob Peterson
Written By: Pete Docter & Bob Peterson
Cast: Edward Asner, Christopher Plummer, & Jordan Nagai
Runtime: 96 min
Rating: PG
Trailer
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 X
© Cinephile Magazine, 2009
Which part of the movie Up moves you most? Maybe the bird eye view from the floating house gives you the deepest impression, or may be the wonderful pictures of the Paradise Fall bring you to the most fantastic wonderland. But for me, the daily life Carl and Ellie used to have moved me. They just show us how happy the life after marriage could be.
They are not rich—- how much could you expect a balloon seller earns? But they are happy. Every day they just feel happy for they could see each other as soon as they wake up. They have never been tired of each other, time flies in their laughter. I think that is so called true love. It has nothing to do with the fortune; it has nothing to do with the bright future, but the world they share with each other. They forget everything except each other in this world. As the song sings, when you are close to me, I just want to lock ourselves in the room away from the world. That is about the life of Carl and Ellie. They failed to travel to the Paradise Fall together; they just lost in the sweet life. This recalls me the story about the time machine. After the inventor of the time machine lost his mate, he tries his best to invent the time machine and try to rescue his mate. But if she did not die, he would not have the thought to make such equipment.
Back to the topic, the sweet marriage, some of us think the happy marriage should be built up on the base of good money. If he did not have the diamond ring, how could he give me a happy life after marriage? In my opinion, it is totally wrong. If you love each other, even a rubber wristband left from a celebration you two take part in could be better than diamond. Money just could make your life easier, but not mean the whole.