Has any studio had a run as successful and as glorious as Pixar’s? Certainly not during most of our lifetimes. Starting with 1995’s Toy Story and running through the past two summers’ instant classics, Ratatouille and WALL-E, Pixar’s filmography reads like a list of modern masterpieces: Toy Story 2, Finding Nemo, The Incredibles. Even the animation studio’s lesser movies — like A Bug’s Life and Cars — deliver more heart, joys and laughs than most CGI talking-animal/-vehicle/-whatever flicks.
You can add this year’s Up to that esteemed list. In fact,
you can move it to the top. Pixar’s 10th film ranks as one of its best.
Along with The Incredibles, it’s undoubtedly the studio’s most
human movie.
Up is an eyes-wide-open fantasy about Carl Fredricksen
(voiced by the always-cranky Edward Asner), whose lifelong dream of
being a globe-trotting adventurer has been halted every step of the
way. He marries his childhood best friend, a girl who shares his dreams
and quest for adventure. Over the years, they live and love and try to
scrape up enough cash to visit Paradise Falls, a mythical wilderness in
South America.
After his wife dies, Carl — now an old man with a bad back and
an even worse temperament — spends his days in his ramshackle
house, which stands in the middle of a construction site (Carl refuses
to sell, even as high-rises go up around him). After he assaults a
worker on his property, the court orders him to a retirement
community.
So Carl hatches a plan to escape to Paradise Falls by attaching
hundreds of balloons to his house. Surprisingly, it works, and he sets
sail serenely above the city streets. All goes well until he hears a
knock at the door and finds Russell, an overweight and chatty
Wilderness Explorer (it’s like a Boy Scout) who needs one more badge
— “assist an old person” — to advance to the next level. A
brutal storm steers Carl and Russell miraculously in the middle of
Paradise Falls’ outlining forest. And then Carl’s real adventure
begins.
Unlike the meditative WALL-E, Up is filled with thrilling
action scenes and colorful set pieces. Like WALL-E, it’s a
stunning visual work with an eco-friendly message.
It’s also Pixar’s most adult film (and its second to receive a PG
rating): Carl’s wife has a miscarriage, he draws blood after whacking
someone on the head and the villain is ruthless in his pursuit of a
rare bird. Plus, there’s a tearjerking moment that ranks right up there
with Toy Story 2’s “Jessie’s Song.” Most of all, Up is a
liberating and breathtaking work, filled with an appropriate sense of
adventure.
This article appears in May 27 – Jun 2, 2009.