Review of Up (2009) by Cameron H — 07 Nov 2014

Pixar (or Disney as a whole) films deserve credit for occasionally driving adult-oriented themes through children-oriented animated whimsy. In the first ten minutes, my heart sank for the protagonist Carl Fredricksen (Edward Asner), whom we witness as a child meeting his future wife, marrying, being told that they can't have any children, funding their lifelong dream of moving to a specific location in South America, unwillingly using such funds for other purposes, and lastly, as a very old man, caring for his wife on his death bed.

They ultimately never went to South America together. I am now depressed. That whole opening sequence only has a few lines, otherwise being a compelling montage. Don't worry, kids. It's a Pixar film.

The mood picks up quickly, when a young boy scout Russell acts as sidekick to Carl as he travels to South America via his house tied to hundreds of balloons. Once they arrive in the area, the two encounter a talking dog named Dug, a tall exotic bird named Kevin, and Carl's childhood hero Charles Muntz (Christopher Plummer).

Russell wants to bring Kevin back to her nest, but Muntz has longed to capture Kevin for publicity. Meanwhile, Carl only longs to bring his house to the specific location. If I had to tell you, Carl joins the side of Russell, trying his best to protect Kevin from Muntz.

Muntz has a whole army of talking dogs, it turns out, and a grand aerial war soon takes place. I understand why children might enjoy the action, but for me, I only cared about seeing how Carl develops as a character.

And in that respect, I was satisfied. The animation is as good as Pixar usually gets, and the jokes can suit the taste buds for both children and adults. Perhaps a reason that I don't love animated films to the degree that others do is because the elements suited for children do not tend to interest me.

For adults, I recommend watching it for how Carl handles the death of his wife, and soon moves on by fulfilling the wishes that he did not fulfill while his wife was still alive.