The greatest journeys UP are when you're most down

Rating: 7/10 (7 September 2009)

In terms of animated features, Pixar ventures where very few other animated films have gone before and that is to delve into the lives of the elderly generation. In fact, having any film (animated or not) examine what it is like to grow old and the roller coaster ride that is life would normally mean you are in for some heavy material indeed. This is because true depictions of life are not constantly joyful and grand, it is always hand in hand with tears and hardships. In this respect, Pixar are to be applauded to have dared create a "kids" film that explores the circle of life in all its vivid glory and personal heartache.
Those who have scored UP poorly have undoubtedly felt misled, disappointed or even cheated because oftentimes when one thinks of Pixar, one thinks of imaginative explorations of what it would be like if our toys were alive (Toy Story 1 and 2), or if cars could talk (Cars), or if a mouse wanted to be a gourmet chef (Ratatouille), or how a family attempts to be "normal" when they all have superpowers (The Incredibles). Previous Pixar stories have always reached the realms of "brilliant" because these imaginative explorations are balanced with plot depth, humor and characters which audiences connect to and cheer for. Whether it's an ant trying to show his colony that they should stand up to the grasshoppers (A Bug's Life) or a humble cleaning robot guiding humanity home and trying to find love (Wall-E), all Pixar films are both fantastical and deeply meaningful thus showing their movies are more than just eye candy.
And this is where UP has divided the people. Don't get me wrong, UP has the fantastical and the deeply meaningful in spades, the difference here is that Pixar explores these to the extreme.
Flying a house to South America using thousands of balloons, dogs with futuristic collars that allow them to translate their "dog" language into English (or any other human language) and lest not forget they can also cook, a mythical rainbow colored bird and an old man who uses a walking stick in the first half of the film but can do "Indiana Jones"-like feats in the second half of the film - Fantastical? CHECK.
Boy meets girl, they fall in love, they marry, they discover they can't have children, they grow old together, wife dies, old man lives alone in house which he calls by his wife's name while high rise buildings are being constructed around him, old man attempts to fulfill promise to his deceased wife by flying to South America taking the house with him, and all that doesn't even cover the background story of the boy scout (who's father has left him and now only lives with his mum) who tries to help the old man out - Deeply meaningful? CHECK.
The daring exploration by Pixar of both these fantastical and meaningful themes has resulted in a beautiful, at times humorous, oftentimes heart-wrenching and flawed (but not necessarily in a bad way) film.
Never before has Pixar challenged the audience to such a level. Are you able to suspend belief to the point where you can believe a house can be lifted off by thousands of helium filled kids balloons and yet at the same time be willing to invest in an old man (who himself is flawed in more ways than one) and experience both the pain of love lost and the goal of hope found? Will parents be willing to explain to their young children about life and death? Will kids understand the adult themes? Will adults enjoy the ride or will they feel the movie is too depressing and the events too unbelievable? These are the questions which Pixar has dared audiences to confront.
As for me, I enjoyed the film, I laughed during the bits where you're meant to laugh, and I was moved to tears during the bits where you were meant to be moved (especially the beginning which shows the fast forward life of old man Carl). I struggled at times with suspending my belief of the events in the second half; how both Carl and Russell (the boy scout) manage to do the physically astounding is not to be thought about in depth. All in all, a brave film by Pixar that doesn't quite reach the lofty heights of brilliance but if looked at from above has many lessons to be learned and perhaps, just perhaps examines the flaws in all of us (especially as we get older) and how we should all try to reach UP to greater heights.