Movie Review: Pixar's "Up"

It was my birthday yesterday and I couldn't think of a better movie to watch than "Up." Here is my review on the latest Pixar film. Spoilers ahead.

If you've seen the trailers for this movie, you've noticed the main character is a retired-aged man and that the only presence of youth was from the Asian kid and a talking dog. Well, that was pretty much the cast of "Up." I waked into this movie with high expectations.

"Up" starts off as a love story, the love a child has for exploration and adventure which eventually focuses on the love of a man and a woman, Carl and Ellie. "Up" is classic boy meets girl tale that portrays Carl and Ellie's common interests in adventure. The first part of the film shows how the relationship between Carl and Ellie blossom from friendship to marriage. They live long fruitful lives, making their trip to South America a common life goal. Unfortunately, real world issues derail their plans forcing them to set their goals back. In their old age, Carl decided to take the plunge and purchase two flights to South America. Unfortunately, old age catches up with Ellie as she passes away. The movie continues as Carl makes it his goal to finally make it to South America.

If you can suspend your disbelief of an old man literally moving a house, helium lasting for more than twenty-four hours and dogs that know how to cook steak and pour wine you'll find this story to be very heart-felt. If you were a fan of Toy Story, you can definitely see that Pixar is grow-up with their movies. They surface topics such as old age and death, yet make it entertaining for a five-year-old to enjoy. All the references to Ellie after she died really pulled at the heart-strings, at some points in the movie, I found my eyes getting a bit watery. The pacing of the film was handled well, especially the beginning of the movie. With very little dialogue, you were able to live in Carl and Ellie's world which made for good character development. Russel and Doug, the Asian kid and talking dog respectively, provided a majority of the humor. I hate to say it, but Russel reminded me of the curly haired kid from Billy Bob Thornton's "Bad Santa." A little goofy and clumsy. They fit well into the storyline as the humor bounced back and forth among the group.

Overall, this was a good movie. Another homerun for Pixar.