Well? now how about that? At long last and after many other cinematic releases between me and my last Pixar film, Up has finally debuted on the Australian screen. I am actually quite relieved because I was starting to wonder as to whether or not I indeed ever would see this movie on an Australian movie screen at all and that maybe it would just go unreleased in this country given that it was sure taking it?s time. But there clearly is some kind of Film God up there who did finally see fit to give to me a little bundle of joy in the form of Up to arrive in my lap. So I am grateful that I actually finally get to review it, even if I got to watch it much, much later than anyone else outside of this very large island full of kangaroos. So now that I have that outta the way let?s talk review.
Pixar movies, along with dinosaurs, spaceships, Halo and caramel slice exist as an Apex of my childhood. A charming thing that makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside and something that helps me reflect my past. They are almost always charming, witty, clever, heartwarming and wondrous (I promised myself I would not use the word ?beautiful? in descriptive sense as I said that far too many times in my Coraline review and frankly the word is starting to get stale) It was a tradition my family and I had that together me, my sisters and my parents would go and see the latest Pixar film. This was time honoured really as it was one of the very few things we still did as a family. Given that I was much younger than my sisters I was often ?the excuse? for them to go and watch these movies, they can pretend they were taking me to see it when really the excitement was mutual. Honestly with the good rep from Pixar it?s not hard to see why they are pretty much Disney?s flagship, mostly I think their success comes from being able to still pull our heart strings, as my sister Sarah put it ?they are master manipulators? able to make us feel emotion no matter what the subject matter is, be it, toys, insects, fish, cars, rats and of course robots.
This brings me to my final point before I get on with the review, 2008 saw the release of Wall-e (which again was probably delayed for us Australians as we were all too busy wrestling crocodiles to watch movies) and I want to make this very clear: I named Wall-e a time honoured classic and one of the best movies of 2008 and 2008 was one hell of a good year for movie buffs like me. So naturally I was sceptical as to whether Pixar could ever top it so I was cautiously excited about the release of Up. So I decided to watch this to decide for myself if Pixar still retains some of the old magic.
So hello, I?m Vrex and today I?ll be reviewing Up? whether you like it or not.
Our hero of this tale is an elderly man named Carl Fredrickson. He is actually introduced to us as a bright-eyed excitable little boy who over the course of time meets an equally excitable little girl named Ellie and as they grow up they eventually marry and build a house together. This is told to us through a long montage of events from the day they are married until finally the day Ellie dies of old age in a hospital bed. I have to applaud Pixar for this opening because of how emotionally engaging it really is, not to mention it features issues like infertility (all done without words though) and grief both things that we nearly would never see in a Pixar film. So they managed to get fresher with more adult themes, that?s for sure.
To cut to the chase though as I have a lot to talk about the main theme is that both Ellie and Carl were adventure enthusiasts and that they always had a dream to see a place called ?Paradise Falls? and even an idea of their house ending up near there sort of a final adventure that they both had been hoping would one day occur.
After Ellie dies and Carl has nothing to live for he decides to make that adventure come true. By tying many balloons to his house and filling them with helium he successfully makes his entire house airborne and flies out in search of the mystical Paradise Falls. And of course he has an unwanted stowaway in the form of a young scout troop named Russel. Together they end up at Paradise Falls, encounter a strange Dog named Dug with a collar that translates its thoughts into words and they meet a rather large colourful bird. Soon of course they stumble into a conspiracy involving another explorer who is also after the bird and paths intertwine into an enjoyable action adventure with a descent amount of comedy within.
To tell you the truth the story itself is rather interesting but ultimately fairly straight forward, however like so many Pixar films before it (I?ll use Wall-e as an example) Up?s real strength is in the themes. The idea of grief and loss and doing one last thing for a loved one is a great tried and true concept and it is done to wonders here. There are so many points that lead me very close to tears and it?s that heartwarming use of issues that are actually quite real for a lot of people that makes Up something of an emotional powerhouse. The Boy Russel has issues with his father who seems to spend a lot of time ignoring him and his stepmother who from the description of her doesn?t seem particularly thrilled to have him around. And of course Carl is very human with his occasional lashes out of emotional anger (at one point angrily attacking a man who damaged his mailbox and creating the first depiction of blood I recall in a Pixar movie). In a sense this is less a journey of actual travelling distance and more a journey of personal discovery and emotional relief. If you want a kid?s movie with some very heavy themes I would say Up is a good choice.
I saw this movie in 3D and I have to wonder where this ?Digital 3D technology? is ultimately going to end. I mean yes Coraline was a visual orgasm when it was done in 3D and Up as well looked pretty nice. But really I have to wonder if the gimmick will one day be as out of control as it was in the fifties when they handed out 3D glasses with the popcorn. But regardless it still looked great, at least I think it did. I got pushed so far into a corner by all the mothers and six year olds that it was honestly hard to tell. But in any case the visuals in Up do at least reach the standards of a Pixar film which is to say bright and colourful and in some places greatly detailed but in others kind of obviously cartoony. This is a style that I recognise from the Incredibles. I have to say though while the visuals are nice and pretty it isn?t up to the same par as Wall-e was which of course took awe and wonder to a whole new level of jaw dropping?WOWWWWWW. Up doesn?t really have the same effect, which is unfortunate but even though it doesn?t quite look like you can just reach out and touch it like in Wall-e when everything looked ultra real, the cartoony look isn?t overly a bad thing. In fact it still looks damn decent, but it?s biggest problem is that while it looks decent it doesn?t really stand out among all the many other 3D movies that move in like a swarm. When I did my Coraline review I praised it mostly for how amazing the visuals looked but one thing I may not have noted was that it was a very bold move to go with stop motion instead of 3D animation. They could just as easily have simply made it a CGI adventure but they chose to make it stop motion, which in turn gave it its own personality and style.
Up, despite looking very pretty also doesn?t do too much to stand out on a purely visual scale. So despite looking like an amazing 3D rendition of a Miyazaki animation and indeed the bright vibrant colours will make you very facinated ultimatley it is not unique enough to truly stand out. So ultimatley animation is still amazing but could have been so much more.
In conclusion I very much enjoyed Up, it?s clever and exciting and very heartwarming. There are a few issues but ultimatley that feels more like a nitpick then a genuine complaint. The themes are a solid build for the film as is the very human and sypathetic angle that the characters are presented. The animation might not be Pixar?s finest but it is still amazing, with lush jungle scenes and breathtaking moments up in the sky. And as always Pixar does an excellent job with it?s witty and sharp sense of humour that I still don?t think anyone else can properly grasp. The funny bits and the emotional bits combined with some great scenery still make it a voyage worth undertaking so to all my fellow Australian Escapists please finish cleaning the Emu cage and go and watch this movie. Coraline now has opposition for children?s film of the year I?ll say that.
So until next time, this is Vrex: At the movies.
For Other self indulgent Vrex related reviews please click on the following links:
Vrex at the movies: Coraline [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/326.130069]
Vrex at the movies: Dead Space Downfall [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/326.105604]
Vrex at the movies: Pitch Black [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/326.120198]
Vrex at the movies: Mary and Max [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/326.114658]
Vrex at the movies: Friday the Thirteenth [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/326.107487]
Vrex at the movies: District 9 [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/326.136231#3067612]
And as for games:
Vrex behind the controller: Otogi: Myth of Demons [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/326.113073]
Vrex behind the controller: Dead Space [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/326.116791]
Vrex behind the controller: Mass Effect [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/326.116372]
Pixar movies, along with dinosaurs, spaceships, Halo and caramel slice exist as an Apex of my childhood. A charming thing that makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside and something that helps me reflect my past. They are almost always charming, witty, clever, heartwarming and wondrous (I promised myself I would not use the word ?beautiful? in descriptive sense as I said that far too many times in my Coraline review and frankly the word is starting to get stale) It was a tradition my family and I had that together me, my sisters and my parents would go and see the latest Pixar film. This was time honoured really as it was one of the very few things we still did as a family. Given that I was much younger than my sisters I was often ?the excuse? for them to go and watch these movies, they can pretend they were taking me to see it when really the excitement was mutual. Honestly with the good rep from Pixar it?s not hard to see why they are pretty much Disney?s flagship, mostly I think their success comes from being able to still pull our heart strings, as my sister Sarah put it ?they are master manipulators? able to make us feel emotion no matter what the subject matter is, be it, toys, insects, fish, cars, rats and of course robots.
This brings me to my final point before I get on with the review, 2008 saw the release of Wall-e (which again was probably delayed for us Australians as we were all too busy wrestling crocodiles to watch movies) and I want to make this very clear: I named Wall-e a time honoured classic and one of the best movies of 2008 and 2008 was one hell of a good year for movie buffs like me. So naturally I was sceptical as to whether Pixar could ever top it so I was cautiously excited about the release of Up. So I decided to watch this to decide for myself if Pixar still retains some of the old magic.
So hello, I?m Vrex and today I?ll be reviewing Up? whether you like it or not.
Our hero of this tale is an elderly man named Carl Fredrickson. He is actually introduced to us as a bright-eyed excitable little boy who over the course of time meets an equally excitable little girl named Ellie and as they grow up they eventually marry and build a house together. This is told to us through a long montage of events from the day they are married until finally the day Ellie dies of old age in a hospital bed. I have to applaud Pixar for this opening because of how emotionally engaging it really is, not to mention it features issues like infertility (all done without words though) and grief both things that we nearly would never see in a Pixar film. So they managed to get fresher with more adult themes, that?s for sure.
To cut to the chase though as I have a lot to talk about the main theme is that both Ellie and Carl were adventure enthusiasts and that they always had a dream to see a place called ?Paradise Falls? and even an idea of their house ending up near there sort of a final adventure that they both had been hoping would one day occur.
After Ellie dies and Carl has nothing to live for he decides to make that adventure come true. By tying many balloons to his house and filling them with helium he successfully makes his entire house airborne and flies out in search of the mystical Paradise Falls. And of course he has an unwanted stowaway in the form of a young scout troop named Russel. Together they end up at Paradise Falls, encounter a strange Dog named Dug with a collar that translates its thoughts into words and they meet a rather large colourful bird. Soon of course they stumble into a conspiracy involving another explorer who is also after the bird and paths intertwine into an enjoyable action adventure with a descent amount of comedy within.
To tell you the truth the story itself is rather interesting but ultimately fairly straight forward, however like so many Pixar films before it (I?ll use Wall-e as an example) Up?s real strength is in the themes. The idea of grief and loss and doing one last thing for a loved one is a great tried and true concept and it is done to wonders here. There are so many points that lead me very close to tears and it?s that heartwarming use of issues that are actually quite real for a lot of people that makes Up something of an emotional powerhouse. The Boy Russel has issues with his father who seems to spend a lot of time ignoring him and his stepmother who from the description of her doesn?t seem particularly thrilled to have him around. And of course Carl is very human with his occasional lashes out of emotional anger (at one point angrily attacking a man who damaged his mailbox and creating the first depiction of blood I recall in a Pixar movie). In a sense this is less a journey of actual travelling distance and more a journey of personal discovery and emotional relief. If you want a kid?s movie with some very heavy themes I would say Up is a good choice.
I saw this movie in 3D and I have to wonder where this ?Digital 3D technology? is ultimately going to end. I mean yes Coraline was a visual orgasm when it was done in 3D and Up as well looked pretty nice. But really I have to wonder if the gimmick will one day be as out of control as it was in the fifties when they handed out 3D glasses with the popcorn. But regardless it still looked great, at least I think it did. I got pushed so far into a corner by all the mothers and six year olds that it was honestly hard to tell. But in any case the visuals in Up do at least reach the standards of a Pixar film which is to say bright and colourful and in some places greatly detailed but in others kind of obviously cartoony. This is a style that I recognise from the Incredibles. I have to say though while the visuals are nice and pretty it isn?t up to the same par as Wall-e was which of course took awe and wonder to a whole new level of jaw dropping?WOWWWWWW. Up doesn?t really have the same effect, which is unfortunate but even though it doesn?t quite look like you can just reach out and touch it like in Wall-e when everything looked ultra real, the cartoony look isn?t overly a bad thing. In fact it still looks damn decent, but it?s biggest problem is that while it looks decent it doesn?t really stand out among all the many other 3D movies that move in like a swarm. When I did my Coraline review I praised it mostly for how amazing the visuals looked but one thing I may not have noted was that it was a very bold move to go with stop motion instead of 3D animation. They could just as easily have simply made it a CGI adventure but they chose to make it stop motion, which in turn gave it its own personality and style.
Up, despite looking very pretty also doesn?t do too much to stand out on a purely visual scale. So despite looking like an amazing 3D rendition of a Miyazaki animation and indeed the bright vibrant colours will make you very facinated ultimatley it is not unique enough to truly stand out. So ultimatley animation is still amazing but could have been so much more.
In conclusion I very much enjoyed Up, it?s clever and exciting and very heartwarming. There are a few issues but ultimatley that feels more like a nitpick then a genuine complaint. The themes are a solid build for the film as is the very human and sypathetic angle that the characters are presented. The animation might not be Pixar?s finest but it is still amazing, with lush jungle scenes and breathtaking moments up in the sky. And as always Pixar does an excellent job with it?s witty and sharp sense of humour that I still don?t think anyone else can properly grasp. The funny bits and the emotional bits combined with some great scenery still make it a voyage worth undertaking so to all my fellow Australian Escapists please finish cleaning the Emu cage and go and watch this movie. Coraline now has opposition for children?s film of the year I?ll say that.
So until next time, this is Vrex: At the movies.
For Other self indulgent Vrex related reviews please click on the following links:
Vrex at the movies: Coraline [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/326.130069]
Vrex at the movies: Dead Space Downfall [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/326.105604]
Vrex at the movies: Pitch Black [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/326.120198]
Vrex at the movies: Mary and Max [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/326.114658]
Vrex at the movies: Friday the Thirteenth [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/326.107487]
Vrex at the movies: District 9 [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/326.136231#3067612]
And as for games:
Vrex behind the controller: Otogi: Myth of Demons [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/326.113073]
Vrex behind the controller: Dead Space [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/326.116791]
Vrex behind the controller: Mass Effect [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/326.116372]
