Up
It's all too easy I think to not take your kids to the cinema, wait for the DVD. Easy all round. Except I like to think that taking the kids to the cinema occasionally is something that can infuse them with love for good films, and the experience of seeing them on a big screen. As long as you can avoid the pic'n'mix ("make sure you choose lightweight sweets kids" to blank looks from them and chortles from other parents) and the like, job's a good un.
Up is a great film. Pixar has gone beyond making animated films that are good stories and actually makes good films that happen to be animated. I also like films that work on two levels. A recent example is the book Coraline: exciting thriller for kiddies, even more of a nailbiter for adults. A more perennial example are the Looney Tunes cartoons, which can be enjoyed by kids but were made for adults and work perfectly on both levels.
Up is like a very grown up version of a Looney Tune. Kids watch it and will no doubt find it a version of "My First Arthur Conan Doyle's The Lost World." Look, a big funny bird. A funny old man. A talking dog. More talking doggies! And the film works on that level. The dog bits alone will entertain people of any age.
But for adults, the film hits the big Ls: Love, Life and Loss. I don't want to go too much into this lest I spoil the effect for you, but it's literally like you're watching a different film from your kid. They probably won't catch subtle things like an empty chair and What That Means. And they probably won't understand why you spend a good portion of the first fifteen minutes of the film with tears rolling down your face. So be warned. It's not even the loss of a loved one--no, because that's almost too easy. It's coupled with how you deal with the loss of a dream.
So for kids, an adventure movie. For adults, something with a lot more depth.
The 3-D aspect of the film isn't overplayed.You don't get an In Your Face moment. It's just for gorgeous, stunning depth. When you're dealing with South American jungle vistas then depth is good for you.
Pixar continues to blow away notions of animation and it's clear that they are working to change our notion of animation and could get us where we need to be in Western cinema: catching up to Japan, where animation can be for all ages not just kids.
I loved it. Very poignant, and very entertaining. 9 tighty stars out of 10
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Tighty's critque is so spot on nothing to add but i enjoyed it immensely.
Just watched Surrogates,visually stunning,great cgi and an interesting story premise but it just didn't click.Bruce Willis was great though.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0986263/Dissapointing but not a total waste of time.
Absolute agree with you about UP, (I mean its not 2 CGI robots hitting each other) but it might just be film of the year. Amazing how Pixar consistently delivers.
I thought Bruce Willis was just phoning it in, although i did like the premise, your right just didn't click.
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