0

Pixar Soars With Up


Image taken from Wikipedia

What goes up but never comes down? It’s Up from Pixar! (Pun intended)

As Pixar’s 10th film, Up has indeed proved to the world of Pixar’s rapid progress in the world of animation. After producing films such as Toy Story, Monsters Inc and Wall-E, Pixar has often been associated with story plots which don’t really revolves around life realities unlike those from Disney. However, Pixar might have just broken the streak by introducing us with “Up”, a non-fantasy realistic film. With its imaginative concept and remarkable animation, Up has really surprised us. Who ever thought it was possible to hoist your house in the air with 20,622 helium balloons!  Credits should definitely be given to director and screenwriter, Pete Docter and his co-director, BobPeterson for displaying to us the power of creativity.

Paradise Falls

Image taken from Google Images
The film features on Carl Fredericksen, an old stubborn box shaped man who decided to fulfil his late wife, Ellie’s dream to have their house built near Paradise Falls, the place where both of them have dreamt of going since they were children. Instead of heading to the retirement neighbourhood, Carl decided to fly his house to Paradise Falls by tying helium balloons from the fireplace. However, it seemed that an Asian descent Wilderness Explorer child named Russell had just crashed into his mission. The bubbly chubby boy decided to help Carl as he wanted the Assistance to the elderly merit badge. As Carl had no idea on how to dispose Russell, he was forced to bring Russell together to South America. With an addition of two members to their team, a giant peacock like bird named Kevin and a chocolate loving dog named Dug, the story began to unfold and unravel the dark side of Paradise Falls.
The cute bubbly Russell

Image taken from Google Images

Up is a gentle, slow pace film with an easily understandable plot and characters. The film is suitable to be watched from people of all walks of life as it has the most minimal violent scenes and the wordplays are simple. Up may not be as flamboyant as Monster Inc nor as thought provoking as Wall-E but is it definitely the most graceful piece Pixar has ever work on. It has just enough dash of every genre and its narrative style is very systematic that we won’t feel lost while watching it.

A memorable scene from Up apart from a flying house with helium balloons is Carl and Ellie’s love story. In the beginning, Carl accidentally stumbled upon a tomboyish Ellie while chasing after his balloon. Then the story fast forward to a few decades later where we get to see the two getting married and moving into the house of their first meeting as kids. Soon, they grew older and faced many hardships together. In the end, Carl was shown sitting alone in a church, deeply saddened over Ellie’s death. These silent scenes were lovely and heart-warming.  Carl and Ellie’s actions alone were enough to show us the deep love they had for each other. Though it was just for a few short minutes, Carl and Ellie’s love story was the main core of the whole film. It was Carl’s love for Ellie which drove him to embark on a life risking adventure. Without this glorious beginning, the whole film will definitely feel like an empty vessel.
One of Carl and Ellie's happiest moments


                                                                  Image taken from Google Images
With a thin plot, Up certainly exceeded our expectations on Pixar’s capabilities. Who knows that one can create such an amazing animation with a shallow story? We do think Up is Pixar’s answer to Hayao Miyazaki’s Spirited Away. Although the two might not be exactly the same, they both had shallow plots but with excellent narrative style which makes them both one of the most splendid film we will ever see the history of animation. Looks like Pixar has just begun spreading its wings Up! 


 Cloud of Muses Rating : 8.2/10 

To read more reviews about the movie, click here!

Aditya's Movie Reviews
 
 Watch the trailer here!


Celine Woon

Welcome to my blog! Feel free to comment after reading my reviews! Really appreciate them =).

No comments:

Post a Comment