Review of Disney-Pixar's Up

Every once in a while, a movie comes along that fully engrosses you and makes you experience a gamut of emotions. To call Disney-Pixar's Up a rollercoaster ride would be an apt comparison, as there are at least as many "downs" as there are "ups."

The movie opens with a young Carl Frederickson, a shy boy with a desire for adventure, watching his hero on an old movie screen. He soon meets a tomboy named Ellie who shares his love of adventurer Charles Muntz. In a touching montage, it shows their life together, including their marriage, their home, her pregnancy, etc.

Fast-forward to the present and Carl is an old, box-shaped, Spencer Tracy look-alike with a voice uncannily similar to Edward Asner's. He is grumpy and gruff, but takes great pride in his home. Therefore, when he is threatened to leave his house for a retirement home, he decides instead to go "Up" and "away" to South America, where his and his wife's hero Charles Muntz once went exploring.

Carl finds a little stowaway named Russell, an Eagle Scout who needs a badge for "helping the elderly," on board his floating house. From there, he and Russell go on the adventure that he and his wife dreamed about all those many years, and he finds out a little about himself along the way.

I should emphasize that Up can be misinterpreted as derivative and clichéd in a review, but watching it is a different matter entirely. The visuals in Up are impressive, as per usual with Pixar, but what truly stands out are the little details, especially the contents of a childhood scrapbook that Ellie kept.

Upon arriving at Paradise Falls in South America, the adventure aspect of the plot picks up, and it becomes a bit more kid-friendly because of a host of "talking" dogs and a colorful bird. The movie is definitely a bit more adult-oriented than prior Pixar offerings--not in explicit content, but in the subject matter. While the premise is slightly fantastic, Up is easily the most true-to-life Pixar film yet, dealing with an actual old man instead of a robot, a toy, a bug, an Incredible, or a monster.

Finally, if you think it's just a kids' movie, and that you'll walk out unaffected, then I invite you to try seeing the movie without shedding a tear. In fact, try not to bawl at any point in the movie. I'm manly enough to admit that I have a shred of sensitivity in me, and more than a few instances left me teary-eyed.

While a few plot points don't seem to totally mesh and in some ways the story seems incomplete, for the most part Up delivers on the usual Pixar promise of being the best animated film you've seen in a while. It is a joy to watch at any age. Fill your pockets "up" with some tissues, just in case.