Pixar keep on going Up

Rating: 9/10 (3 November 2009)

Carl Fredricksen (Asner) sets out to Paradise Falls to fulfil his life long dream by tying thousands of balloons to his house, but is unaware of Russell (Nagai) on his porch.
The only way is up for Pixar. We say it year after year but there is simply no stopping the mighty animators from producing yet another masterful picture.
Last year Wall-E brought about their biggest ever gamble by reducing the dialogue to a minimum and telling the story through physical humour and scene settings with enough semiotics to appreciate the earth's decline.
And now there is Up. The first 3D picture to open Cannes film festival went down a treat with critiques and fans alike and now in cinemas across the world smashing records once more, they really have soared.
I must confess, seeing the trailer I was slightly apprehensive and concluded this was it, this was where Pixar would go down. Carl seemed grouchy, the puns used appeared ordinary and the plot seemed exceptionally thin. I hold my head down in shame for judging this on its trailer.
What we have here is yet another wondrous ambition of life that will break the heart, make the kids laugh and make you feel ultimately rewarded.
The opening sequence of Carl in the cinema as a young lad watching his hero on screen sets the tone for the film's central dream concept as Carl meets a fellow youth and the pair share the same adventurous spirit. After an hilarious fall and a sweet how you doing moment the film dives into a silent montage of their life together and when Carl hits a stopping point his life falls apart and until he has no choice, does the house start to fly and the adventure well and truly begins.
When watching a Pixar or a Disney picture you have to bear in mind the realism of situations. The unlikeliest is high but this is meant for entertainment and it certainly delivers it. The physical science of whether the house can fly based on helium balloons is open to the guys in the labs but this is an imaginative attempt to portray childhood ambition and it succeeds through this.
From talking dogs to an undiscovered bird this has adventure written all over and the fun never stops once the house is up. Russell provides that childhood innocence and ambition to give Carl food for thought and with flying dogs, an explorer with a deadly secret and charming dialogue this spells happiness for the entire family.
As more and more animations are now made with 3D in mind this picture was evidently more focused on the plot. Impressive but there are exceptionally few moments with actions coming out at you, like in Coraline or Monsters vs Aliens.
Irrelevant in my opinion as we have here the best animated picture this year with a charming plot with humorous characters and marvellous ambition.