The R & R Review has hired our friend and Disney Pixar fanatic Bill Tom Kriby to give our readers his take on the latest Pixar feature, Up. Here are his words...
I have a question for you - what movie studio has won 2/3rds of all academy awards that it has been nominated for (in its class)? Here’s a hint: their movies feature some of these well known actors - Tom Hanks, Paul Newman, Samuel L Jackson, and Jason Lee. If you guessed Pixar, you were right. When one of the R's asked me to be a guest movie reviewer for the website, I jumped at the opportunity, especially since the movie I was going to be seeing was Up in 3D. Being a self-proclaimed Pixar lover, I knew that Up had a lot to live "up" to (sorry), especially since the previous installation, Wall-E, was such an excellent production.
Up brings us the story of Carl Fredricksen (voice of Ed Asner) who longs to be an explorer and visit the wilderness in South America. As a young, shy boy, he meets a talkative, outgoing girl named Ellie who has the same dream. Carl and Ellie then start their lives together and vow to get to Paradise Falls in South America. Skip to almost 70 years later and Carl still has not made it to Paradise Falls. As Carl realizes that he may never get there, he decides to tie thousands of balloons to his house in order to reach his dream destination. As he is ascending in his house, he learns that he has a surprise guest on his porch. This stowaway is another explorer, albeit much, much younger. Russell is a Wilderness Explorer that is attempting to obtain his final badge, the Assisting the Elderly badge. The excursion that Carl and Russell then embark upon leads us to an event filled adventure with visually stimulating animation, funny dialogue, exciting scenes, and a satisfying (yet predictable) ending.
Entering the theater, I did not know anything about the movie as there has not been much publicizing the way other Pixar movies seem to be. The first few scenes really helped me connect with Carl - in a way that other movies would have trouble doing in such a short period of time. It is amazing how Pixar can make a movie that lures in the adults with good character development and adult story lines while still keeping the kids entertained with visuals and humor. Russell and Dug the dog provide all the laughs you would need, although there is an especially funny dream sequence that Carl has as the house is just lifting off. I could really see Carl changing from a crabby old man to a man letting go of his past and embracing the opportunity he has to change his attitude and open up his heart. This is by far the most mature themed movie made by Pixar. There are a couple moments when the other theater-goers (including me) were tearing up because of the emotions that we could relate to from our own lives. The way Pixar can provide entertainment for all ages will keep crowds coming back for more. This movie definitely does not disappoint and I would give Up an R&R rating of 4.5 sporks.
Let me finish by saying that the 3D experience was well worth the extra $3 dollar charge, especially since you get to keep the new, plastic-wrapped, manufacturer provided "sunglasses". These weren't like the flimsy paper glasses I was used to when I was growing up. I was apprehensive of the 3D at first, running all of the possible outcomes through my head. I thought I may be sprinting out of the theater to throw up due to the information overload my eyes and head were taking in, but it turns out that the effect was well done. 3D looks like the next step for Pixar as Toy Story 3 (due out in 2010) will be done in that format as well.
-Bill Tom Kriby hails from Sarasota, FL. His son, Will, is going to pop out any day now.
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