Don't get me wrong, Pixar's characters are still drawn for us with care, just not great care. Only old Carl is given a full background, while his young traveling partner, Russel, was only given some brief lines of dialogue regarding his deadbeat Dad. Even the villain is merely given a brief newsreel before he shows up a full blown madman later on in the film.
Other than these small details, much of the film felt unbelievable. It may sound ludicrous to talk this way about an animated film in general, but pretty much all of Pixars other films gave us a feeling that we were part of a sort of alternate reality. Either a fantasy world unknown to the real world via Toy Story, and to an extent, The Incredibles, or completely fictional universes like Monsters Inc., Cars etc. This film felt grounded in the real world that Carl faced from the start, and then just out of the blue decided that real world rules don't apply anymore (flying balloon house, crazy undiscovered world in South America, giant undiscovered bird species, talking dog collars and much more) All of this was fun, but felt slightly misplaced against the film's initial backdrop.
Overall, however, this is still a strong entry into the Pixar catalog and only a minimal slip in their otherwise stellar output.
Hey Nate,
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing your thoughts. It's nice to see your general reverence for Pixar, and I generally agree with your comments on films, but I think you got it wrong this time. Up is one of the best films I've seen this year, and it would easily make the list of my five favorite Pixar films. (To argue my case, I reveal a few plot points. Consider yourself warned.)
I adore the way the film deals with it's subject. First of all, it tells the story of two people's relationship and their life-long dreams with little dialogue, a brave choice executed beautifully considering that more than a few audience members are young kids. Then, the rest of the movie is spent looking at how Carl gets past his grief and his lost dream and comes to rediscover joy and community. And, when most summer movies crank out generic heroes who are subtle variations of the tiresome athletic-foppish-badass, it is so refreshing to see Pixar give dignity and depth to an older character.
The villain, Charles Muntz, is not a random element as you suggest. He represents what can happen to someone who gets consumed by the heartache of an unfulfilled dream. Without the camaraderie and friendship that he developed with young Russell, Carl might have grown into a kind of Charles Muntz, alone, bitter, and full of anger at the world.
Friendship with the adventurous Russell, revitalizes Carl's own sense of adventure. While we're seeing this story unfold we get treated to fun comic gags, engaging fights and awe-inspiring animation. I couldn't ask for more.
It's been a while since a movie touched my heart and left me exhilarated by its end, so I felt compelled to defend it.