"It's the boring stuff I remember the most."

Rating: 8/10 (13 December 2009)

Up is a film that focuses heavily on emotional story elements as well as epic-scale action scenes with a beautifully tropical setting. Everything you see in the trailer is pretty much present as you would expect, but the problem is that other than the masterful introductory fifteen minutes or so, nothing is there to surprise you or make you feel 'blown away'. The action scenes were fun but they somehow stole from the feel. To quote quite the unlikely source for such a phenomenal line... "It's the boring stuff I remember the most." That could not be more appropriate to describe Up, as it was the small, slower-paced scenes in the film that really made it stand out in the moments where it did feel special. When the child speaks of his father, and especially any moment referring to the old man and his beloved wife... these story elements that really focus on the characters is what won the show for me. Sadly, that is constantly broken to a degree by another scene that, despite its epic-scale in adventurous action, strangely felt unwanted when I'd rather just listen to the characters talk. That's strange for an adventure film for all ages, but I believe that was the film's problem.
Up... should not have been so heavily themed on adventure. The characters are too well developed and interesting to do that. Some adventure is mandatory and even appreciated, and I am not saying I didn't enjoy the action we got. The problem is, the balance was off, and it simply left me over-exhausted from high-flying venturing and starved for more character development.
Ultimately, while I greatly enjoyed Up, it simply did not live up to such gems as Ratatouille, Wall-E, and The Incredibles.