Up

WARNING! SPOILERS!

If you haven't seen this film, go see it! This review is intended as a discussion point after seeing it.



Up has a fair few suprises up it's sleeve, not just the plot which, whilst not totally devoid of predictability, is more than entertaining enough to keep you enthralled throughout, but also because some of it's themes are pretty dark for a Disney film. The opening montage, in which we see Carl and his wife Ellie get married, try for a baby and have a miscarriage, grow old together and then Carl at Ellie's funeral, is moving in a much deeper way than say, the death of Bambi's mother. It feels more real, this is a film that may be more likely to make the parents cry rather than the kids. Beginning our story with a grieving old man who feels lost and alone is heavy stuff for Disney, and it definitely pays off. Call me a cynic, but often with these films I kinda feel they get a little too bogged down in phony sentimentality, it often seems quite tacky, or cheesy, but here the entire film has a genuine warmth to it, and you do actually care about the characters. The severity of the subjects lend the film a weight and emotional depth few Disney films manage to achieve. In the final moments of the film, as the house Carl met his wife and grew old in, and his childhood hero plummet to their doom, it's quite a powerful moment.
However, whilst Carl's character feels wonderfully realised and is suitably fleshed out by a solid back story, Russell's character isn't explored quite as deeply. we know what we need to know about him, and he becomes a likeable character (it would have been perilously easy for him to have come off as annoying, but the film manages to avoid this), but the bits where he talks to Carl and provides a bit of backstory don't quite fill in the whole picture. In a way this is good, as it leaves some things open to the viewer's imagination and tries to get our brains working, but at the same time it means Russel's happy ending isn't quite as satisfying as Carl's. But this is a minor point, Russel is not the main character and certainly works well.
The film looks awesome too, with a whole army of lovingly rendered dogs and some beautiful looking landscapes. All in all, a top film, I'd say, and one of the best Pixar films I've seen in years, both in terms of style and substance.