Movie Review – Up
I was really excited to see Up this summer season. I haven’t seen all the Pixar movies, but I have yet to be done wrong by one. None of the remaining dumbed down action movies sound exciting to me, so I thought it’d be a nice change of pace for the summer too. I made the right decision.
Up is about an old man, Carl, who sees his neighborhood transforming into skyscrapers, and is moments away from being moved into a retirement community, when he makes a decision to go on the adventure he’s longed for. He inadvertently brings along Russell, a Wilderness Explorer anxious to help the old man and earn a merit badge. Carl and Russell do make it to South America, and Paradise Falls, the location Carl and his deceased wife Ellie always dreamed of visiting. The balloon ride is just the beginning; the adventure truly begins when they “land”.
The film was surprisingly touching, especially the opening sequence capturing the true love between Carl and Ellie from childhood through her death. The trailers and ads portray him as a grump, but that is not the case at all. Carl is a warm-hearted man with an adventurous spirit. Russell may have a lot of merit badges, but he earned them reading about the wilderness, not actually experiencing it until they’re in the jungle, helping his new pet Kevin.
I had a great time, and I think between me, Violet, and the other couple we went with, we laughed louder than all the little kids at some points. It’s nice to see such a moving movie, one that can make you laugh out loud, tear up, and leave letting out a deep breath and smiling, having enjoyed the ride.