This review contains minor character spoilers and minor plot spoilers.
Up was awarded 'Best Original Soundtrack' and 'Best Animated Picture' at the 2010 Academy Awards.
After being entranced by the sheer beauty of Pixar's last outing, WALL-E, I was quite sure that they couldn't top it for Up. I turned down a chance to see the film for free with Jenohart as I had with WALL-E, and later regretted the decision as the great reviews rolled in. It took a long time before I finally saw it on Blu-Ray, and I can say for sure that it does not disappoint.
Story
How can you make a whole film about a guy in a floating house? That's what I thought when I first sat down to watch this film. I'd steered away from spoilers and the like, although even the first trailers I saw back when it first released were tight-lipped.
The story ties in greatly to the characters, which I'll go into in a moment. It mostly focusses around an old man named Carl Fredricksen and what he decides to do with his life after the death of his wife. All hope seems lost as everything he held dear crumbles around him. As a last-ditch attempt to fulfil his childhood dreams, he obtains thousands of balloons and lifts off his house to head to South America and find his childhood hero. Along the way he meets up with a whole host of weird and wonderful characters, and finds out that reality isn't as innocent as you think when you're a kid.
It's a simple story, but you can't help but feel entranced by it. Unfortunately, as it is a Disney film, the story becomes quite a bit predictable as the film goes on.
Characters
As aforementioned, each character is tied to their own deep storyline, some of which are expanded on and others which are not. Each protagonist is lovable, realistic and easy to associate with.
The character who ends up being the primary antagonist is rather obvious when you first meet him, and his sudden change in attitude is very sudden and not particularly well-developed. Some would chalk this up to his mental instability, but I personally think it's silly. It's as if Disney thinks that audiences wouldn't be able to understand anything other than black-and-white morality.
Soundtrack
The music in Disney films has always been great, and Up continues this trend. I have always said that the soundtrack is one of the most important parts of a film, and the music in Up contains such emotion that it's hard to remain nonchalant even in the opening scenes. Each character has their own motif, like in opera, and different variations are played depending on the feelings of the character in question. A brilliant soundtrack.
Realism
I've already complained about the antagonist, but it's time to see how the latest Disney film compares in terms of 'is this believable?'
Unlike many animated films nowadays, the animals in Up don't talk - except of course for every single dog in the film. This is explained by the plot as being their thoughts read out by a computer, and indeed the dogs' mouths don't move. It's done incredibly well, but I don't find the mind-reading computer very believable.
Each character is animated incredibly well. Pixar spent a lot of time researching animals and people in order to get down their motions and appearances, and it shows. Everything is very detailed, even down to the way characters walk.
The part that most people wonder about is whether it is really possible to lift a house with helium balloons. Pixar did the appropriate calculations but found that if a realistic amount of balloons were to be animated it would come out as a gigantic, unappealing blob. In the end a few thousand balloons were animated using a realistic physics engine, resulting in one of the most awesome-looking balloon physics ever seen in CGI. Physics also takes a leading role as the film goes on, showing the effects of time and various impacts on a balloon. It's quite interesting.
Blu-Ray extras
The Blu-Ray edition of Up comes in a two-disc set. The first disc contains the film, a few makings-of, some alternate endings, an explorer badge game, and two shorts. The second disc contains additional special features. The special features are very interesting and show how much time and effort was put into making the characters realistic and believable.
Overall
Up is a fantastic film, and I'd say it's on the level of if not greater than WALL-E. I recommend that everyone see it. It really makes you think about your life, both the past and future.
10/10
After being entranced by the sheer beauty of Pixar's last outing, WALL-E, I was quite sure that they couldn't top it for Up. I turned down a chance to see the film for free with Jenohart as I had with WALL-E, and later regretted the decision as the great reviews rolled in. It took a long time before I finally saw it on Blu-Ray, and I can say for sure that it does not disappoint.
Story
How can you make a whole film about a guy in a floating house? That's what I thought when I first sat down to watch this film. I'd steered away from spoilers and the like, although even the first trailers I saw back when it first released were tight-lipped.
The story ties in greatly to the characters, which I'll go into in a moment. It mostly focusses around an old man named Carl Fredricksen and what he decides to do with his life after the death of his wife. All hope seems lost as everything he held dear crumbles around him. As a last-ditch attempt to fulfil his childhood dreams, he obtains thousands of balloons and lifts off his house to head to South America and find his childhood hero. Along the way he meets up with a whole host of weird and wonderful characters, and finds out that reality isn't as innocent as you think when you're a kid.
It's a simple story, but you can't help but feel entranced by it. Unfortunately, as it is a Disney film, the story becomes quite a bit predictable as the film goes on.
Characters
As aforementioned, each character is tied to their own deep storyline, some of which are expanded on and others which are not. Each protagonist is lovable, realistic and easy to associate with.
The character who ends up being the primary antagonist is rather obvious when you first meet him, and his sudden change in attitude is very sudden and not particularly well-developed. Some would chalk this up to his mental instability, but I personally think it's silly. It's as if Disney thinks that audiences wouldn't be able to understand anything other than black-and-white morality.
Soundtrack
The music in Disney films has always been great, and Up continues this trend. I have always said that the soundtrack is one of the most important parts of a film, and the music in Up contains such emotion that it's hard to remain nonchalant even in the opening scenes. Each character has their own motif, like in opera, and different variations are played depending on the feelings of the character in question. A brilliant soundtrack.
Realism
I've already complained about the antagonist, but it's time to see how the latest Disney film compares in terms of 'is this believable?'
Unlike many animated films nowadays, the animals in Up don't talk - except of course for every single dog in the film. This is explained by the plot as being their thoughts read out by a computer, and indeed the dogs' mouths don't move. It's done incredibly well, but I don't find the mind-reading computer very believable.
Each character is animated incredibly well. Pixar spent a lot of time researching animals and people in order to get down their motions and appearances, and it shows. Everything is very detailed, even down to the way characters walk.
The part that most people wonder about is whether it is really possible to lift a house with helium balloons. Pixar did the appropriate calculations but found that if a realistic amount of balloons were to be animated it would come out as a gigantic, unappealing blob. In the end a few thousand balloons were animated using a realistic physics engine, resulting in one of the most awesome-looking balloon physics ever seen in CGI. Physics also takes a leading role as the film goes on, showing the effects of time and various impacts on a balloon. It's quite interesting.
Blu-Ray extras
The Blu-Ray edition of Up comes in a two-disc set. The first disc contains the film, a few makings-of, some alternate endings, an explorer badge game, and two shorts. The second disc contains additional special features. The special features are very interesting and show how much time and effort was put into making the characters realistic and believable.
Overall
Up is a fantastic film, and I'd say it's on the level of if not greater than WALL-E. I recommend that everyone see it. It really makes you think about your life, both the past and future.
10/10
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