Beautiful, funny, heartbreaking, technically marvelous... but too inconsistent

Rating: 6/10 (3 November 2009)

Up has some of the saddest moments ever seen in an animated feature since Bambi, great visuals, wonderful imagination, some great gags (though not as many as in other Pixar films), and a positive message.
So why wasn't I swept up in it?
I had real problems with plot holes and character development, this time around. The appearance of the fantastic in a fairly realistic story (hoisting the house up by the balloons) was too big a leap for me. And Carl's conflicts with boyscout Russell, snipe Kevin and dog Doug felt sort of gratuitous, though my wife pointed out correctly that his problem was he didn't want to admit anything new into his life after his wife died. But then, the conflict with the builders wasn't the best way to get that point across (better if Carl lived in a wonderful neighborhood but shut everyone out of his life, instead of living in a situation where he was a clear victim). Similarly, once he meets Kevin and Doug, it's just bizarre he doesn't use them to help him get the house to Paradise Falls (as they both were clear assets in that respect). Finally, hero-turned-villain Charles Muntz should have been far older than Carl (at least 35 years between them) and his 'heel turn' was so extreme and so illogical, it just didn't fit the theme of the film.
Though it would have been an extreme downer, the film would have made more sense if it had been the fantasy of an old man about to be shipped off to the living hell of a retirement home. But that would have sent all audiences home in a state of depression...
It's clear to me that Pixar should develop an animated feature project intended primarily for an adult audience. Twice, now (here and in WALL-EE) they take mature subject matter with a real edge, and then they back away from taking it as seriously as they should. And end up with a manipulated feel-good ending, which diminishes the film as a whole (unlike, say, Toy Stories 1 and 2, Finding Nemo and The Incredibles).