Critics and audiences alike often get flack for championing Pixar’s films every time a new one is released. While everyone does go crazy with praise, just take a look at their catalog. Cars and A Bug’s Life may not be up to the standards of Toy Story 2, WALL-E, or Finding Nemo but they’re still better than half of the animated movies that are released over the years. If anything they’re probably the best studio around as they consistently churn out projects that above all put their story and characters first. One year ago, everyone crowned WALL-E as their finest achievement and was on many “best of” lists mine included. While Up is certainly going to be there this year, my question now is will it remain on top? That’s right, Pixar has crafted a film that is their finest to date and so far, is the best film of the year.
Up pretty much solidifies its greatness roughy ten minutes in with a montage that is one of the best scenes ever put to film. We’re given all we need to know about Carl and Ellie’s relationship in just four beautiful minutes. Had this been the short film following the feature, it would have easily won the Oscar. As it stands now, it’s the best sequence in a masterpiece which says nothing bad about the film it’s featured in. Ed Asner voices Carl Fredericksen, who is a man who dreams of being like his hero Charles Muntz, but never has the money to go on his adventure. His journey in life has led him to become a crabby ol’ cuss who seems to be waiting for the day he’s dead. He finally pushes himself into adventure after an altercation with some construction workers who want to take over his house. While most of the people seeing this film are nowhere near seventy, Carl is very much a character one can relate to, regardless of age. Up gets us on his side from the get go with that beautiful montage as well as showing him as a young, goofy child obsessed with his hero Charles Muntz.
Carl’s joined by eight year old Russell who’s a loud Wilderness Explorer with a heart of gold. His back story feels natural likely because Jordan Nagai handles him with the right amount of cuteness and sympathy. He could have easily been annoying but he never comes off as such. Russell’s a child who just wants to do right and discovers a surrogate father in Carl. Yes it falls back on the ‘reluctant friendship’ on Carl’s part but it feels natural and not forced. Neither does the cute character Dug that’s going to win girls and kids over alike. He too gets some good characterization as the noble yet dim-witted group of a pack of dogs led by talking Doberman Pinscher Alpha (who has the greatest villain voice ever.) Even the non-speaking bird Kevin is treated as more than just something to make the kids giggle. Like all of Pixar’s past films, writers Bob Peterson and Ronnie del Carmen get that the characters need to be essential to the story they’re telling. This is the essential reason the studio gets all of the accolades that they always do.
And what a story they have on display! Up is about finally saying the hell with it and following your dreams, at least that’s one way it could be interpreted. Another way is that our dreams happen to us when they’re meant to, and i
n their own way. It’s an adventure tale through and through that harkins back to the 1930s serials that inspired such films like Indiana Jones. Like the man in the hat’s first adventure, Up’s action isn’t used to keep things moving. Peter Docter has the exciting scenes happen because of the character’s actions rather than because Disney calls for it. Even the whiz-bang finale feels like it’s a result of everything that’s come beforehand. It also keeps one on the edge of their seat by building some great tension. The protagonists are always kept one step away from death and constantly in danger. It’s fun, exciting, and even on repeat viewings makes you feel something terrible is going to happen to one of the characters. The action and story are complimented well by Michael Giacchino’s score that captures the adventure, scope, and sympathy of the film perfectly.
Up is the first Pixar film in 3D which will give audiences the option of immersing themselves in that direction or see it the way they’ve checked out their nine other features. I was fortunate enough to see it in both formats and quite honestly, even though some scenes work in 3D, 2D is the way to go with this one. The colors are more vibrant and the details are sharper as opposed to 3D which really adds nothing. Unless you’re absolutely content on seeing the film in 3D, it’s not required like it was with Coraline in order to enjoy the picture. Before the film in both 2D and 3D is the short film Partly Cloudly which puts a new spin on where babies come from. It’s a cute little flick with a touching finish to it.
Going into Up I wasn’t sure if Pixar could outmatch what they did with WALL-E and I came out greatly wrong. Up is undoubtedly their best work to date with it’s colorful characters, touching story, and final act that doesn’t fall apart. The entire film has a sense of scope that feels unmatched by the rest of Pixar’s (and some Disney’s) films that adds to it’s sense of charm. Peter Docter has crafted a masterful work that is the dream of pure genius and is a grand adventure for all to behold.
