Anthony Ricardi‘s review of:
Thanks again, Pixar… As much-praised as was Oscar-winner “Wall-E,” this one is better, at least in your humble reviewer’s opinion. Not only a technical tour-de-force, which one has come to expect from a Pixar product, this one runs an emotional gamut that, hard as it tried, the previous film about robots simply couldn’t match. And the images themselves… visually sumptuous. The use of pastels and subtle shading combine with a level of detail and exaggeration of form to create an immersive experience that is equally effective in either 2D or 3D versions. In fact, the use of 3D has purposefully been designed (unlike most in most kiddy flicks of such a nature) to be merely icing on the cake, and not the main purpose in and of itself.
Love can send you soaring, but the greater the elevation reached, the longer the fall and more painful the impact. How much you can relate on a personal level to the two characters featured in the poignant opening of “Up” will determine just how devastated you will be… this critic, FYI, was a mess. Make no mistake, what we have here in the initial few minutes of this animated instant classic is nothing less than one of the most touching love stories ever to be put ‘up’ on the screen.
We meet the male half of the lovers duo even before he meets his intended, as first we see Carl Fredricksen (Jeremy Leary) as a kid in a movie theater in the 1930′s. It is obvious that the newsreel, not the features, are why he is there. He wears an aviator’s leather cap and goggles, and like so many children of that era seeking escape from the hard times, he sits, enraptured, watching the exploits of an actual “air hero,” in this case the zeppelin-borne world traveler Charles Muntz (Christopher Plummer). On the way home he hears the sounds of play coming from an abandoned house and therein meets a spunky girl, Ellie (Elie Docter) who is also a fan of air adventure and Muntz. Ellie and Carl bond instantly and forever. It is Ellie’s natural exuberance that drives the rest of their long relationship as we see their entwined lives proceed though mundanity (washing windows, watching clouds, seeing Carl at his job selling balloons, seeing Ellie decorate with knick-knacks etc) and tragedy (she discovers that they can’t have children) but always, always, there is obvious and abiding affection radiating from and binding them both. The beauty of the storytelling and imagery here is near perfection and simply beautiful. Somehow, in just fifteen minutes, we come to care for Carl and Ellie more than in the entire running time of most films purporting to be about relationships. They grow old in the perfect little house both fixed up and have lived in since marrying; when Ellie eventually can’t summon the strength for one last walk up the hill to watch the clouds… you might just have trouble seeing the screen clearly. All their lives the two have shared a dream of someday traveling (like Muntz) to Paradise Falls in South America, but for Ellie that dream would never come to pass…
Alone now for the first time since childhood, elderly, depressed Carl (Edward Asner) shuts himself away, dwelling in the past and keeping watch over Ellie’s things, as the quiet neighborhood around the little house is knocked down and replaced by growing office buildings. Offers for a buyout are made and refused, and a run-in with a construction worker who backed his earth mover into Carl’s precious mailbox (hand-painted by himself and Ellie) comes to violence. This is the excuse the developers have been waiting for, and Carl is informed by the authorities that he will be forcibly evicted as a danger to those around him. In a wish fulfillment sequence sure to fire the hearts of any marginalized senior watching, Carl takes action. You’ve probably seen the house held aloft by hundreds of balloons in the marketing for the film, but the moment when it takes to the sky remains nothing short of uplifting, exhilarating.
It is at this point that the film becomes a pure fantasy flight, shifting tonally and thematically, while also adding a new character. Wilderness Explorer Russell (Jordan Nagai), an appropriately chubby kid for our time, had been seen briefly just prior to liftoff, and has now become a reluctant passenger on Carl’s front porch. As Carl is one of those heart-of-gold kind of curmudgeons, he allows Russell into his sacred domicile/shrine/airship, which is on its way to South America. The quest to fulfill Carl and Ellie’s life-long dream journey to Paradise Falls has begun…
The rest of the film contains wonders and surprises that shall only be briefly alluded to, so as to not blunt their effect. Suffice to say that the trip is not simply well worth taking, it is recommended as highly as anything this critic has ever touted. Dreamlike, in the best sense of the word, the adventures that befall Carl and Russell range from surreal to comedic, from hopeful to hazardous with many stops in between. Like a dreamscape containing its own cast and bizarre rules, most of the remainder of the film is utterly odd but incredibly familiar and logically consistent at the same time. You see, the plateau off which Paradise Falls, well, falls, is not uninhabited, and is a strange and singular world unto itself, containing native species and visitors with their own agenda. Rather like a classic Edgar Rice Burroughs or H. Rider Haggard adventure/exploration novel mixed with the wackiest cartoon ever made by Tex Avery, imaginative possibilities are endless and go places you will not expect, but will assuredly delight in.
Thrills mix with laughs and even a few more emotional catches in the throat as Carl and Russell, along with an unlikely ally or two, brave dangers and grow into unlikely partners, each filling a void in one another. Carl’s void is, as has been recounted, the more vast, but we come to find that optimistic Russell has his own burdens, and they will be all too familiar to many an over-stretched parent in the audience. Parent, grandparent, child or former child, this film contains something very special for everyone viewing it, messages that will linger as long as love and cherished memories dwell within each of us.
Bottom Line: Resonating with gentle sensitivity, hope, fun and above all, imagination, this film rises to heights that others don’t even attempt… and in the process produces the finest all-around entertainment yet this year, and a timeless treat for all years to come.
Critic’s Rating: A+ (for Achievement)
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