UP

Starring the vocal talents of:
Edward Asner, Christopher Plummer, Jordan Nagai, Bob Peterson, Delroy Lindo, Jerome Ranft and John Ratzenberger

Directors:
Pete Docter and Bob Peterson

Running Time:
96 mins

"You're my Master and I love you ...Squirrel!"

When Carl Fredrickson (Asner) is forced to move out of his house and into a retirement village by property development company, he decides that they can have his land but they can’t take his house. Instead he attaches thousands of balloons to his home and flies off on the adventure he has always dreamed of. What he didn’t account for however was tenacious Wilderness Explorer Russell (Nagai) joining him for the ride. As the pair head for South America, they never realised that this was going to be the adventure of a lifetime.

With an unprecedented, unrivaled back catalogue of blockbuster hits, can Pixar continue to do no wrong?

Every year, every fan of animation and cinema looks forward to the release of one film, the new movie from Pixar and 2009’s release ‘Up’ is another highlight of the cinematic calendar. After regaling us with such gems as ‘Toy Story’, ‘Finding Nemo’, ‘Monsters, Inc’, ‘The Incredibles’, ‘Ratatouille’ and ‘WALL-E’, Pixar set a standard so high that even when they have a little blip with ‘Cars’, they still manage to produce a movie that many animation studios would love to have made. The great news for all Pixar fans is that ‘Up’ keeps up this astonishing hit ratio and could be one of their best movies yet.

With ‘Up’ they continue the adage of putting story at the forefront of the philosophy behind the production of the film. Mixing fantasy, 1920s & 30s adventurers, friendship and keeping a promise to a loved one, ‘Up’ is probably Pixar’s most heartwarming and well written film to date. This is the story of Carl Fredrickson, an elderly gentleman who is been pressured to sell his house by developers and when he gets himself in trouble and is forced to sell he decides to let them have the land but he is taking the house that he and his late-wife Ellie made a home on the adventure they had dreamed on all their lives. Attaching thousands of balloons to the fireplace, the house floats into the air and heads towards South America but what Carl didn’t expect was a passenger and Wilderness Explorer Russell never thought that he would have to travel so far to get his helping the elderly badge. When they arrive in South America and the mythical Paradise Falls, they would have never thought they would meet a strange bird called Kevin, meet a talking dog called Doug, that Carl would meet his childhood idol and they would both go on the adventure of a lifetime. This is classic Pixar and a story that will make you laugh, have your jaw drop in awe and bring a tear to your eye.

As with all Pixar movies, the vocal performances are not about just bringing a huge celebrity name to provide the voice for a cartoon version of themselves but instead they actually great a character and one that will become a firm family favourite. Carl Fredrickson is brought to life by veteran actor Ed Asner with great gusto and he ably accompanied by debut actor Jordan Nagai as Wilderness Explorer Russell. Christopher Plummer is brilliantly cast as Adventurer Charles Muntz and Bob Peterson is fantastic as talking dog Doug.

With so many positives it is very hard to find a negative but the one minor niggle is nothing to do with the film. The decision of Disney to make all of their animated features in 3D is one that is not really needed and ‘Up’ is another example of this. This brilliant movie is not enhanced at all be the inclusion of 3D. While it does bring some depth to some of the scenes, this is a film that could and will be enjoyed just as much, if not more so, in traditional 2D.

Pixar’s ‘Up’ is quite simply brilliant. This is a film that is destined to become a firm family favourite and is easily one of the best movies that Pixar has produced, standing tall with the greats like ‘Toy Story’, ‘Finding Nemo’ and ‘WALL-E’. This is another example as to why Pixar movies are the highlight of the cinematic calendar.

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Monsters, Inc


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2009