I've heard a lot about Up; that it's moving and beautiful and sad, and so before I watched it my expectations were pretty high. That's my fault, and I know that the best way to go into a movie is without any knowledge or hopes. It can be a huge relief when a highly anticipated film lives up to its hype, but as often as not hope leads to disappointment. Up was pretty good though. It's funny in places (Kevin is immediately hilarious and lovable), constantly gorgeous and the voice performances are effortlessly wonderful. The story concerns and old man (Ed) who after losing his wife and best friend (Ellie) is under pressure to concede his house to a construction project, and move into a retirement home. This is when he finally decided to take on his life long dream, and keep a promise he made to his wife by moving to the beautiful 'Paradise Falls' in South America. Of course to do this, he ties enough balloons to his lovingly built home to fly there. Things aren't that easy though, as he is burdened with an adorably naive boy scout (Russell) on his journey. On their way they encounter a giant bird (Kevin), talking dogs and a childhood hero who is not what Ed had imagined. It's a sound enough story, but unexpectedly, humour takes a back seat to the beautiful visuals, and sentimentality.
The film is sadder than it is funny, and although much of the melancholy may be lost on a younger audience I was surprised by how mature the film was. I'd choose humour over sentiment in an animated film, and although the opening ten minutes (which sets up Ed and Ellie's relationship from childhood friends to lifelong sweethearts, and eventually Ellie's death) is a great example of concise story telling, it makes the sadness of the story loom over the whole film. For me this took away some of the impact of the more emotional scenes, and I would have liked a few more surprises. Monsters Inc for example manages to subtly balance its humour with heart warming moments so well, and although it's not fair to compare the two, I think Up fell short of Pixar's high standards, for ultimately not being funny enough.
