Wonderful Gem from Pixar

Rating: Null/10 (12 December 2009)

Up (2009)
**** (out of 4)
A marvelous achievement ranks as one of the greatest animated movies ever made. The story is pretty simple as an elderly man, after the death of his beloved wife, decides to finally explore South America as the two had always planned. He ties millions of balloon onto his house and takes flight when he notices a young cub scout is along for the ride. Once they hit the jungles the two will discover what's really important in life as they have one battle after another. Even though I had heard this was a great film, I was really shocked to see just how great it actually was. I was a little skeptical after being somewhat letdown by WALL-E, a film I liked but one I didn't feel lived up to the hype. Everything in this film hits all the right marks and I'd go even further by saying it's one of the greatest animated movies I've ever seen. This movie not only has a great love story but it's also an excellent adventure film and buddy film. Not to mention all the great laughs and the masterpiece animation. The Carl character is without question one of the most memorable, lovable and just downright entertaining in the history of animation and I can't help but think that this character will go down in movie history like so many of the early Disney characters. The love story told early on between he and his wife was incredibly touching and more human than many of the live action love stories we get today. His then father-son relationship with the young boy is also incredibly touching as is his connections to that silly bird and talking dog. I really loved the look of the film and those balloons flying are certainly a beautiful site. I'm not a major fan of CG animation but the work being done by Pixar is something truly remarkable and that brilliant work continues here. This is certainly a movie that has a little bit of everything but what's so special is its heart and how it can communicate human emotions through animation.