Fairly uplifiting but highly imperfect

Rating: 6/10 (30 May 2009)

It was a good movie, but not great. The beginning sequence was well-done, tender, and sweet, but it was not quite as emotionally affecting as I expected. I would have liked to see a couple more scenes of Carl and Ellie interacting with dialog because the scenes with them as kids didn't quite cut it for me...I liked how it set up Carl's instantaneous love for Ellie, foreshadowing the endurance of his love for her, but her character came off as unique (which was good) but also kind of annoying. If we got to see a little more of her character and dynamic with Carl, maybe a scene of her showing some love for him, I think the following music-only sequence and the whole movie would have been more emotionally compelling.
Anyway, Carl as a character was a good protagonist, not the stereotypical, grumpy old man one might expect but instead a quiet, relatable human being. Russel, on the other hand, wasn't the best counterpart for Carl; he had some good moments, but was overall pretty typical and annoying at parts.
And while I liked Kevin and Dug, I didn't care for their introduction and their plots. The fact that a giant bird, a pack of talking dogs, and a crazy old man comprise a large part of the story doesn't sit well with me, especially since the movie at first seemed to be rooted in realism (a balloon-propelled house isn't entirely realistic, of course, but it is not cartoonish like the aforementioned elements are).
I would have overall preferred if the movie kept a sense of realism to it; there are plenty of ways to have adventures without all that hyper-cartoonish stuff. Even Muntz was a bit cartoonish for such a movie. However, while I would have liked the movie better without these unrealistic plots, they ended up working pretty well once the real point of them as a new adventure for Carl--an adventure to bring him and Russel together in a strong way and for a common good--was more firmly established and explored. However, this purpose still could have been accomplished in a less cartoonish way.
As for humor, I didn't find many of the jokes to be funny. Maybe a couple were, but overall, it was kind of weak on humor. Several gags were predictable, and even those that were decent weren't great. I also think the writers thought Russel was a lot funnier than he actually was. And as for the emotion, there were some lines and scenes that seemed forced (for example, Russel's stories about his father), but there were other scenes that got the emotion just right; it worked best when it was understated and subtle.
My favorite scene in the movie was when Carl looked through Ellie's "Adventure Book" and saw the photos of their enduring marriage inside with the final note of "Thanks for the adventure. Now have a new one!" A very simple yet powerful scene, in my opinion. And while I found the ending to be very predictable and the scene with the badge lacked the emotional impact it wanted to have, I did like the final scene of Carl and Russel eating ice cream and counting cars (unfortunately, it was the first time I felt a real bond between the characters.) Anyway, the end credits were really great too, very nicely summing up the whole message of the film...one of my favorite parts of the whole movie, actually. And this message of everyday life being an adventure when spent with someone you love was really nice, one of the best things about the movie.
Technically speaking, the visuals were pretty great. I saw it in 3D, and it utilized the 3D well without overdoing it. The only thing that bothered me a little was that parts of Carl looked strange...his ears and hands mainly. But overall, really nice-looking movie. Oh, and the music (particularly the old-fashioned piano music) was awesome.
In précis, probably worthy of a B/B-. Tentative grade, but there it is. Didn't reach the heights of emotion and beauty of "Wall-E"; didn't as successfully accomplish the feeling of friendship and fun like "Toy Story" did, but still a fairly solid Pixar film.