UP is a film unlike any I have ever seen, and I'm glad to say that I mean that in the best possible way. Animation has long been a force in motion pictures because, to be plain about it, you can draw (or in the modern world, computer animate) things that would be difficult to impossible to replicate with "live-action" films. (CGI blurs the boundaries, but this isn't the place for that discussion.)
UP is a film with characters more believable and lovable than any ten brain-dead films you're likely to see beween now and Halloween. It is sad and poignant, and it is often laugh out loud funny.
The film begins with a young boy, Carl, who is adventurous and playful and meets a young girl, Ellie, who is even more adventurous. We learn in this early part that a famous explorer hasn't been seen for decades after heading off to Paradise Falls in a South American jungle. As children, Carl and Ellie idolized this explorer. After their pre-pubertal meet-cute, we're treated to an exceptional montage giving us a sense of the life Carl and Ellie enjoy together, ending with an elderly Carl who has recently lost the love of his life.
Thus begins the next act of the film. Carl, voiced wonderfully by treasured Ed Asner, is still living in the home he shared for years with Ellie. The rest of the neighborhood has been leveled by a high-rise construction company, and they have Carl in their sites. Carl flies off the handle in an altercation with the construction crews, and is ordered to a retirement home.
Carl instead hitches the home to a flock of helium balloons and heads the old home place for Paradise Falls. He soon discovers a stowaway quaking on the front porch: zealous Explorer Scout Russell, who happened to be on Carl's porch trying to earn his "Help the Elderly" merit badge.
They make their way through a few flying perils and arrive near the mysterious Paradise Falls, where they find dogs who can mysteriously speak. (An hilarious recurring joke makes much of the fact that dogs can be totally and suddenly distracted by even a mention of a squirrel.)
The film recycles a few old chestnut themes like "following your dream" and "being there for one another," but it does so with such a knowing and tender and kind-hearted perspective that you can't help but be enchanted by this exceptional film. Pixar has another home run. Enjoy!Get more detail about Up (4 Disc Combo Pack with Digital Copy and DVD) [Blu-ray].
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