Pixar have been the most consistently great developers of animated film ever. Apart from a slight misstep in Ratatouille, which is still a very good movie, I've loved every one of their films. Despite the absolute rave reviews Up has been receiving though, unfortunately I'd have to say that it's my least favourite of all Pixar's releases.
I'll start with the good, however, which there is a lot of. The animation has inarguably improved with each Pixar film, and this is no exception. The textures are even more detailed than before, and effects like dirt and dust are more natural. Everything's gorgeous to look at. The visuals are incredibly vibrant - lots of strong, primary colours; and the character designs are disproportionate in a more cartoony manner than usual. It's the opposite of Earth in WALL-E; gritty realism has been replaced with a brilliant, mostly unrealistically animated world. The art style's the sort of thing that you could just sit and look at without having any sort of coherent story to take you through it, and this is aided by similarly wonderful cinematography. Some shots stand out like beautiful photographs, a particular one I remember being when main character Carl is pulling his house in front of a red sunset (you'll notice it too, when you see it).
It's worth mentioning that I saw Up at the IMAX in 3D. It's definitely worth going for this option; the film just looks even more beautiful on such a big screen. The 3D doesn't jump right out, nor are any gimmicks used, like having something fly out towards you so everyone goes, "Whoa! Holy fuck! That thing almost hit me straight in the fucking face!" It just adds a level of depth to the film that you wouldn't otherwise have - the depth isn't as noticeable as it was in Coraline earlier this year, but it still increases the experience of everything on-screen. Other films have struggled to keep the image as sharp in 3D, but there isn't much blur here at all - Pixar have done a commendable job. It's probably still sharper in 2D, so I guess it's up to what you really want when viewing the film: more depth, or more focus.
Might as well give some sort of plot synopsis. You'll probably have seen a trailer for it which will have told you all you need to know - Carl Fredricksen (voiced by Ed Asner) is an elderly man who is being relocated out of his house and into a retirement home. To combat this, and finally live the adventure he and his wife always wanted to go on, Carl attaches hundreds of balloons to the top of his house, and flies away. He soon finds that a young boy, Russell, was on the porch of the house at this time, and so has accidentally gained a companion. The pair land in South America, and encounter other characters like Dug (a dog with a collar that enables him to talk), and a bird that Russell gives the inspired name "Kevin."
These characters are far and away my favourite thing about Up. Russell is absolutely hilarious as the naïve boy who talks too much, and he works perfectly as the antithesis to Carl, a grumpy old man who often just wants him to be quiet. The interactions between these two are a joy to watch. Dug (the dog with the talking collar) is a genius invention on Pixar's part; him and the bird Kevin round out the main cast, and all of them are humorous in one way or another. Also worth mentioning is Carl's wife Ellie - she only appears briefly at the beginning of the film, but when she's a young girl, she's great as the typical goofy, adventurous kid of the kind you may have seen in movies before. While these characters are all fantastic, I must admit that I wasn't keen on the villains. The three evil dogs (also with talking collars) just weren't as funny or menacing as they could have been. The joke with the leader of these dogs is that he's bumped the button on his collar, causing him to have an incredibly high-pitched voice. Rather than opt for a voice actor with an actual high voice though, Pixar have done the thing where they just turn the pitch up really high on a normal voice, so it sounds like Alvin and the Chipmunks...I hate it when films do this, it just sounds terribly artificial, and out of place among other natural voices.
The main villain of the film (who I will leave anonymous...) didn't connect as well as villains in other Pixar films have (like Syndrome in The Incredibles, and Hopper in A Bug's Life, who are perfectly nasty). When he's introduced, his reasons for battling the main cast are introduced a bit too suddenly for me, and he himself wasn't as charismatic a character as the other stars. This was a shame, as the struggle against him contains the majority of the action set-pieces, and leads up to the film's climax.
This is where the film, for me, ultimately doesn't meet the standards set by Pixar's previous efforts - the story. There are some "heavier" issues than have been dealt with before - such as Russell's problems with his father. The fact that Carl is trying to live the adventure that his wife never got to is incredibly touching, and poignant - it leads to some very sad moments within the film. But everything that takes place within the actual adventure just didn't "click" as the other movies have. I can't quite put my finger on it; while I adore the characters present, I just didn't feel as connected to the action, or as intrigued to see what happens. You can tell what's going to happen occasionally (although not to a huge extent - this isn't at all a predictable mess like Terminator: Salvation). Saying this though, a lot of the film is much more original than other animation; the issues like Ellie passing away are much more affecting than anything that happens in, say, Shark Tale or Madagascar, and the film still manages to maintain a large amount of comic moments.
When it comes down to it, Up is still a very good film that looks fantastic, and is better than the majority of animation released by other companies, featuring big names and by-the-numbers stories. This is leaps and bounds above the steaming piles of crap dominating cinemas at the moment. But because Pixar's set the barrier so high with films like Finding Nemo and The Incredibles, it's hard to keep hitting that height, and Up doesn't match the rest of Pixar's marvelous catalogue. To say that isn't an insult to the film though, considering Pixar's astounding level of quality - it's still a film worth seeing.
7.5/10
UPDATE: I know nobody reads this thing, but ever since watching Up on blu-ray a couple of months ago, I completely disagree with my review. I would now give it roundabout a 9.5, for being so wonderfully sentimental, touching, and hilarious. Silly me.
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