Up

Up (2009) – on rental. I must be one of few rare filmgoers out there when it comes to Up. I didn’t think it was very good, and certainly not anywhere near Pixar’s best animated films: after this one, my two favorites still remain Ratatouille and Monsters Inc.

Still. The film tells the story of a young boy, Carl, who dreams about visiting the mythical Paradise Falls in South America. A girl, Elle, he meets shares his passion, and as the years go by, they both marry and plan to visit the Falls together. But they never do so in view of life’s circumstances.

When Elle passes on from old age, Carl becomes a bitter and secluded old man until one day when he’s about to be forcibly moved out of his home to a Retirement Community, decides to escape and finally visit the Falls, with his house. Coming for the ride is Russell, a Scout and Wilderness Explorer who’s seeking to help Carl just so he can earn his final merit badge for assisting the elderly.

It’s telling when the best part of the film lies – for me anyway – in the first 10 minutes. The first scenes with the young Carl, and the montage of Carl and Elle’s life together as years go by are both tender and also moving when Elle becomes sick and passes on. I don’t think there’s been many films that’s given me the sniffles in the first 10 minutes! And the scene in which Carl escapes is magnificent: a house being lifted up by thousands of balloons, and flying over a city – beautifully animated and rendered on screen.

But after that, the tenor of the film changes and we get a perpetually grumpy old man even while on adventure, the irritating boy who wants to help when none is needed or wanted, the theatrical and obsessed villain with no qualities worthy of sympathy, talking dogs and a strange animal that looks like the outcome from an ostrich and road runner breeding program. None of it worked for me. And the story’s themes of discovery anew and letting go of the past while semi-interesting got lost in what I thought were rather drab environments (even if lovingly animated) that were lifeless and without sufficient color.

I think the story’s settings takes a good part of the responsibility for the lackluster visuals for two thirds of the film: it’s set mostly in a no-man’s land that sits just before Paradise Falls, and we never get to really see much of the Shangri-La-esque land latter. And the story itself while serviceable just wasn’t terrifically refreshing. It felt ordinary with a strong whiff of sensation that you’ve seen it all before. You know the outcome of the story at about the time when the house takes off.

And for a Pixar Animation Studios film, there were surprisingly few moments which gave me the laughs or even chuckles. If a talking dog speaking in falsetto is supposed to make me laugh, it didn’t. I got a lot more kick out of watching Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs, or even Madagascar 2.

Disappointing. I’d been really looking forward to this film. It’s getting 3 stars only on account of the stunning visuals in the first 20 minutes of the film, the beautiful film montage of Carl and Elle, and for the voice-acting.