Up (2009)

Up

Written by Bob Peterson & Pete Docter

Directed by Pete Docter

Accompanying Short: Partly Cloudy

Written & Directed by Peter Sohn

To get right to the point, I went into this film having seen it once (about ten years ago), and aside from a couple emotional moments, I didn’t remember much of it, or really care much about it. After this viewing…I still don’t care much about it. It’s cute, and as I mentioned, there’s a couple of emotional moments, but overall, Up is beloved by many Pixar fans except for me.

Partly Cloudy

In front of Up was the short Partly Cloudy, which, like the film it precedes, just…exists. I suppose it was kinda cute: clouds create the babies (human and otherwise) for storks to deliver to excited parents. One cloud, perpetually stormy, makes the not-so-cuddly animals, much to the chagrin of his assigned stork. There’s some humor with each new animal (gators, rams, and porcupines), but the gag gets old pretty quickly. The emotional aspect is somewhat predictable, and the whole thing just feels kinda rushed. When it ended, I just shrugged and moved on: I didn’t feel…anything.

I feel the same way about Up. People LOVE this film and honestly, I can’t figure out why. It’s got a little bit of emotion, it’s (somewhat) progressive, and it’s fairly imaginative. Yet, for some reason, I just can’t get into it. As I agonize over this review, I struggle to find anything worth praising, or conversely finding anything to heavily criticize.

Kevin, Russell, Dug, and Carl

I suppose the biggest thing I would criticize are the various plot holes that exist in the movie. How did Russell travel with the house if he was under it when it took off, and how did he get onto the porch (with his giant backpack) while it was flying around? How can any of them breathe (and not freeze) when they’re above the clouds? How is Muntz still alive, despite him being (AT LEAST) 20 years older than Carl? How is it that Carl is depicted as barely being able to move, yet by the end of the film becomes an action hero? I know it’s an animated movie about a house that’s flying THANKS TO A BOATLOAD (house load?) OF BALLOONS, but I don’t think that’s an excuse. In a film as fantastical as this one, there needs to be some things to ground it to reality (pun slightly intended), and these glaring inconsistencies just leave a bad taste in my mouth.

Ellie and Carl

Ellie’s final message to Carl…which reduces me to tears

I will admit that the emotional core of the film does help keep it connected to reality. There are two main emotional moments: the montage sequence of Carl and Ellie’s life together, and the sequence of Carl flipping through Ellie’s scrapbook. The first is what is most commonly thought of when it comes to Up: set to the track “married life” (a quietly sweet romantic theme which is a huge success by composer Michael Giacchino), the montage begins with Carl and Ellie’s wedding, and focuses on key moments of their life together, both happy (renovating their home) and sad (their struggle with infertility), ending with Carl as a widower. Pixar has had some truly emotional moments preceding this (Jesse’s backstory from Toy Story 2 or the opening of Finding Nemo come to mind), but I feel that this sequence really starts to set the bar for the highly emotional sequences we’ll see soon to follow. Of the two emotional sequences from Up, it is actually the latter that makes me tear up. The note, presumably written by Ellie on her deathbed and stating “Thanks for the adventure - now go have a new one!”, has NEVER failed (admittedly, in the two times I’ve seen it) to instantly bring me to tears. It’s a wonderfully moving moment, and definitely a bright spot in this uneven film.

Russell and Carl

Another bright spot is the characterization of Russell. Now, I think his character is annoying, but I can see why it’s necessary: he’s the polar opposite of Carl, and is actually somewhat reminiscent of Ellie as a child. What’s impressive about him is that he is an Asian-American character that doesn’t need to be Asian-American: there is nothing stereotypical about anything that he does, so he’s just…an Asian-American boy. It’s a sad thing to have to point out, but it’s great to see something like this: a minority character whose minority-ness has zero impact on the story. It’s a nice progressive step that I wish we’d see more of.

Ultimately, the film doesn’t quite succeed at any of its attributes. There’s some humor (Dug is very cute, but borders on overuse), but on the flip side, many of it’s jokes fall flat (the concept of Alpha’s transmitter being broken and giving him a chipmunk voice gets very old, very quick). There’s some emotion, but Carl is so borderline unlikeable that it almost negates that emotional center. Finally, those plot inconsistencies start to poke holes in the already fanciful story. In the end, Up flies, but doesn’t soar.

SHORT GRADE: C

FILM GRADE: C+