So Very Dark

Briggs and I went to see Up this afternoon and I have to say, Disney/Pixar has done it again.

The animated short at the beginning alone might have been worth the ticket price, and the movie itself was simply spectacular.

Honestly, we were both more than a little surprised by HOW good Up was, as the previews showed something that looked cute and colorful, but certainly didn’t foster a ground-shaking desire to see the movie–it definately fell into the ‘well, if we need something to do, that could be fun I suppose’ category.  We went to see it because we had heard it was decent and we knew the animation would be well done, and that we could probably expect a cute little afternoon diversion — something to get us out of the house for a little while.

After seeing it…wow.  Just wow.

First of all, as a movie that takes place largely in the air, if you have the option of going to see it in 3-D, do it.

That said, even if you CAN’T go see it in 3-D, go see it anyway.

There has been a continuing and thrilling trend over the last few years of movies coming out that exceed expectations in their depth and beauty, and Up is a glorious example of the same.  There was definitely humor, silliness and bright colors to dazzle my eyes…but what I wasn’t expecting was to be brought to tears twice (the first time within the first 10 minutes) or to be faced with very real and honest emotions…and some violence that went beyond comical or exciting to rather dark and tragic.  This movie did not talk down to the audience, and considering that this is Disney (the studio that once air-brushed out duck butts) and that Up is a children’s movie, that is a rather remarkable feat.

Along with the emotional accountablility, there was also a respectable amount of physical reality as well.  Okay, yes…this is a movie about an old man who floats his house away with a zillion helium balloons and most houses would lack the structural integrity for that to work…but if his house COULD hold together and the firplace grate WAS the strong center-point of the whole building, he did use an appropriate number of balloons to make a house float.  And balloon bouyed house and other fantasy aspects aside, the overall regard for physics is well structured.

And the animation is amazing.

And the story is gorgeous.

And there are puppies.

I don’t doubt that there are any number of people who were as nonplussed by the preview for Up as I was, and that is too bad because there is a likelyhood that they will miss out on seeing a phenominal film.  So, if you are reading this and HADN’T planned to go see the movie, change your plans.

And bring a tissue.