I’ve been having a bit of a rough time recently and that’s why it’s taken me so long to get around to reviewing Up and continuing my retrospective of Pixar’s films. My reluctance to watch Up doesn’t stem from the film being of low quality, as would normally be the case when I struggle to bring myself to watch things for some of these review series I have done, but instead because Up is such an emotional rollercoaster of a film that I simply couldn’t bring myself to watch it without knowing that I was going to have multiple emotional breakdowns throughout. Whilst Up is not one of my favourite Pixar films, it’s tough to deny that the film has a certain quality to it that is almost unheard of in animated films, even by Pixar’s standards.
Following the death of his wife Ellie, Carl Fredericksen (Ed Asner) has become a grumpy old man who hides away from the world in his house. As a young man he dreamed of adventure and discovering amazing new places in the world, but that dream died with his wife. After being forced out of his home following a legal dispute with some property developers, Carl takes it upon himself to fly his house away from the city and pilot it to Paradise Falls in South America, the place he and Ellie always dreamed of visiting. But when he discovers a young stowaway, Russell (Jordan Nagai), Carl must decide between settling down in Paradise Falls, or helping Russell get back home. Matters are only made more complicated when Carl and Russell encounter Charles Muntz (Christopher Plummer), a former explorer and inspiration to Carl who has spent decades searching for an exotic animal in Paradise Falls.
Following the death of his wife Ellie, Carl Fredericksen (Ed Asner) has become a grumpy old man who hides away from the world in his house. As a young man he dreamed of adventure and discovering amazing new places in the world, but that dream died with his wife. After being forced out of his home following a legal dispute with some property developers, Carl takes it upon himself to fly his house away from the city and pilot it to Paradise Falls in South America, the place he and Ellie always dreamed of visiting. But when he discovers a young stowaway, Russell (Jordan Nagai), Carl must decide between settling down in Paradise Falls, or helping Russell get back home. Matters are only made more complicated when Carl and Russell encounter Charles Muntz (Christopher Plummer), a former explorer and inspiration to Carl who has spent decades searching for an exotic animal in Paradise Falls.
Adventure is at the heart of Up, and it most certainly delivers on that front. Taking us to an exotic locale and wrapping our hero up in a story of grand discoveries, it feels not too dissimilar to the adventure serials that went on to inspire the likes of Indiana Jones. But the main difference with Up is that rather than the hero being a steadfast and resourceful explorer, they are instead a geriatric retiree and a child with zero survival skills. It’s a bold choice to have an animated film, who’s target audience tends to be children, have a septuagenarian as its main character, but Up breaks multiple conventions of family orientated storytelling in favour of presenting a story that doesn’t shy away from the tragedies that life can bring in a way that kids will understand.
Up is perhaps most famous for its opening sequence, one that you simply have to be made of stone not to shed a tear watching. A montage of Carl and Ellie meeting as children, growing up and falling in love, living life and constantly hitting setback after setback in trying to achieve their dream of travelling to South America. From unexpected costs, to miscarriage, and finally death, Up’s opening scene is one of the most powerful few minutes in animated film history. It’s something everyone can relate to, and all of it without a single word. Just some powerful visual storytelling, accompanied by Michael Giacchino’s incredible score.
The latter half of the film I do feel drops the ball slightly. Carl and Russell discover that Muntz has gone mad trying to find this animal and thinks that they want to steal his discovery and so tries to kill them. From this point on, Up ditches the emotional gravitas in favour of a pulpier action-adventure and whilst this is all well and good because it is Pixar after all, it doesn’t strike the same chord as the first half of the film where Russell is essentially getting Carl to open up and rediscover his love for living and for adventure. I guess it was done in service of keeping the kids interested, but I can’t help but feel that Up may have been a stronger film had the entire thing been about processing grief. It’s alluded to a lot in the film that Russell has a dysfunctional relationship with his parents, but we’re never given much to go on and I’d rather have had that explored rather than seeing a bi-plane dogfight.
Up is perhaps most famous for its opening sequence, one that you simply have to be made of stone not to shed a tear watching. A montage of Carl and Ellie meeting as children, growing up and falling in love, living life and constantly hitting setback after setback in trying to achieve their dream of travelling to South America. From unexpected costs, to miscarriage, and finally death, Up’s opening scene is one of the most powerful few minutes in animated film history. It’s something everyone can relate to, and all of it without a single word. Just some powerful visual storytelling, accompanied by Michael Giacchino’s incredible score.
The latter half of the film I do feel drops the ball slightly. Carl and Russell discover that Muntz has gone mad trying to find this animal and thinks that they want to steal his discovery and so tries to kill them. From this point on, Up ditches the emotional gravitas in favour of a pulpier action-adventure and whilst this is all well and good because it is Pixar after all, it doesn’t strike the same chord as the first half of the film where Russell is essentially getting Carl to open up and rediscover his love for living and for adventure. I guess it was done in service of keeping the kids interested, but I can’t help but feel that Up may have been a stronger film had the entire thing been about processing grief. It’s alluded to a lot in the film that Russell has a dysfunctional relationship with his parents, but we’re never given much to go on and I’d rather have had that explored rather than seeing a bi-plane dogfight.
As expected, Pixar present a rich visual experience in Up. Whilst the technology hasn’t noticeably progressed all that much from Wall.E, Up is considerably more colourful and has more moving parts to it so it feels like a step forward even if the technology involved probably wasn’t all that different. I love the exaggerated character models and how that is reflected in the environment, and how colour is used to reflect the mood in the scene. It’s subtle things, hardly noticeable unless you’re looking for it, but it makes the film feel so much more vivid.
As previously mentioned, Giacchino’s score is simply mesmerising. I adore it so much, and there’s no surprise in that it is considered one of the greatest film scores of the twenty-first century, because it really is rather remarkable.
Up really is quite special, but it isn’t the kind of film you can just watch whenever. Perhaps younger audiences might have a different takeaway because their interests will lie in the funny characters and second half action sequences; but as an adult Up is a film that I need to mentally prepare myself to watch. It’s emotionally draining and incredibly cathartic, if you’re in desperate need of a good cry then Up should be your first choice of film. I adore Up for how it breaks the mould rather than the contents of the film itself, so whilst it may not be one of my personal favourite Pixar films, I can certainly understand why it’s held in such prestigious regard.
As previously mentioned, Giacchino’s score is simply mesmerising. I adore it so much, and there’s no surprise in that it is considered one of the greatest film scores of the twenty-first century, because it really is rather remarkable.
Up really is quite special, but it isn’t the kind of film you can just watch whenever. Perhaps younger audiences might have a different takeaway because their interests will lie in the funny characters and second half action sequences; but as an adult Up is a film that I need to mentally prepare myself to watch. It’s emotionally draining and incredibly cathartic, if you’re in desperate need of a good cry then Up should be your first choice of film. I adore Up for how it breaks the mould rather than the contents of the film itself, so whilst it may not be one of my personal favourite Pixar films, I can certainly understand why it’s held in such prestigious regard.