More than its famous opening montage

Rating: 10/10 (1 July 2014)

I roll my eyes every time someone claims the first fifteen minutes of this film are all it has going for it, that after the silent montage it's just a banal kids' film about talking dogs and giant birds. For me, the greatest moments of Up (2009) happen long after the montage, for its power does not come from those five minutes, but from Carl Fredericksen's emotional journey.
Carl has lost his wife Ellie, whom he promised to one day take to Paradise Falls in South America. Life got in the way and he was never able to grant this wish during her lifetime. The whole film is about him getting past his guilt and grief, and learning to live again. The image of Carl dragging his floating house by the hose says everything about his inner state. Russell is not only there so the kids will have a character they can closely relate to; he's there to get Carl to come out and live again, to connect with people again. (He's also a lot like the young Ellie in terms of personality, just a touch less hyperactive.) To those who argue Muntz was a needless villain, I must also disagree. Muntz is a mirror image of Carl in that he is a bitter old man unable to let go of the past and live. Like Carl, he is a recluse, but to a much greater degree, and he is so disconnected from humanity that he sees every other person as a threat.
Yes, the scene with the dogs flying the fighter planes is silly, but guess what fellas: this is not gritty realism. This is a film where a man can use balloons to make his house fly to South America. Are we really going to loose it over a Star Wars homage that lasts less than five minutes? I feel this was more of a defense than a review and I apologize for not going over the gorgeous and vibrant animation, and the score. But I think this is one of Pixar's most powerful films and it deserves every ounce of praise it gets, no matter what the haters say.