Up (2009)

**

I wonder how Pixar does it.  Every time I see one of their films, I wonder if it will finally be a flop.  I didn't have high expectations for "Up" and I thought that it could be the first "bad" movie Pixar puts out.  I was proven wrong once again, however.  "Up" is just as good as the other Pixar films, if not better.

"Up" is the story of Carl who goes on an adventure of a lifetime.  His wife has passed away.  When they were young, Carl and his wife always talked about moving to South America and being explorers.  Now that his wife has passed and he has nothing else to live for, Carl decides to move his entire house to South America.  He ties balloons to his house and off he goes.  

A young boy scout has tagged alongside Carl during this journey.  The boy scout, named Russell, befriends Carl and begins to look up to him as a father figure.  While in South America, Russell makes friends with a giant bird.  Carl is upset about this at first, but he learns to accept it.  

Carl then runs into his long lost hero in South America.  He is an explorer named Muntz.  Muntz has been searching his whole life for this rare bird.  When he finds out that Carl is in possession of the bird, he threatens the lives of Carl and Russell.  The rest of the film, Carl and Russell are on the run, trying to save the bird and themselves from the wrath of Muntz.

The film is very emotional, exciting, and all out thrilling.  I was very surprised to see how adult this film really was.  It dealt with death and even a miscarriage.  

I really felt bad for Carl, especially in the beginning of the film.  All he wants is to be left alone, but all around his house construction is going on.  The construction company is trying to get him to move, but he refuses to.  It is all he knows in his life.  When a construction worker accidently knocks into his mail box, Carl hits him on the head with his cane while in a heated scuffle.  The construction worker actually drew blood.  I was very surprised to see this.  Because of this, the construction company takes Carl to court and he is forced to move.  That is when he decides to fly his house to South America.

Charles Muntz is the villain of the film and I thought he was just great.  Not only was he animated excellently, but he was scary and menacing.  I really felt that Carl and Russell were in great danger because of him.  Charles Muntz has trained dogs to do his dirty work for him.  They were good to a certain point.  I started to get annoyed of the dogs when they started to fly airplanes.  I don't think it was the best idea to have them do that, but that is just a minor set back to this great film. 

Overall, "Up" is an excellent film.  It is the best film I have seen so far this year.  This is right up there with "Toy Story", "Finding Nemo", and "Wall-e".  Pixar has once again proven why they are at the top of the animation game.

A-  I recommend it.