Up

Pixar remains untouchable with their latest film, especially when led in by a trailer for Sony’s Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs, which, in its first minute looks like a total Jimmy Neutron rip-off.  The last time I read the book was in first grade or so, but I don’t recall a kid inventor making non-sensical contraptions.

One of the themes of Up seems to be that misery loves company.  The cast of hereos consists of outcasts, misfits, or sad-sacks in various forms.  Through their mis-adventures together, each starting off with seperate goals for journey, they eventually learn to lean on each other, making a whole new family of their own.

The movie is full of laugh out loud quirks which work for both kids and adults.  Note I said “and.” Normally there’s jokes for kids and jokes for adults.  Many of the jokes in Up are truly multi-layered with an extra kick for those with more life experience.

Humor aside, the opening montage in itself is a wonderfully developed, touching, impactful beginning-middle-end story and could easily have been its own short.  More sensitive folks may want to pack tissues; many in my theater were audibly tearful.

Pixar is known for tackling very specific technical challenges with each film.  In A Bug’s Life, it was crowds.  In Monsters, Inc., it was hair.  In The Incredibles, it was humans.  Between the front-attached animated short Partly Cloudy and the iconic balloons lifting a house, I think their challenge here was complex soft-body collisions.  However, the balloons are far from always on screen, so maybe I’m just imagining the showcase because it was far from highlighted.

What is masterfully showcased is the use of depth.  Normally when you see CG films in 3D, all layers are more or less in clear focus.  The primary method of funneling the viewer’s attention is by popping something out of the screen.  Up utilizes traditional camera lense techniques (the “imperfect lense” seen in Wall-E) to make sure that the viewer is not overwhelmed and unsure of what to look at.  The clouds, fog, light/shadow, and frame composition also noticably contribute to the incredible sense of dimensionality. I’m 100% certain that it would still pop without the glasses.

Back to talking about people, I noticed there were numerous elderly couples or small groups attending my showing.  They weren’t accompanied by families or grandchildren, and several groups stayed through the credits.  I don’t recall any similar situation in other family movies, and I wonder if the turnout had anything to do with the protagonist.

Highly recommended.