Review of Up

When I first saw the trailers for Disney/Pixar's Up, I thought that it didn't look very interesting. Some cranky old guy riding in a house carried by a bazillion balloons? But then, I thought, Pixar has yet to make anything but a good movie. In my opinion, Bugs Life, Wall-E, and Ratatouille, were good, but not great. But then the Toy Story movies, Monsters Inc., and (my all-time favorite) The Incredibles were all phenomenal. So I decided to give Up a chance.

I wasn't disappointed. One thing I realized is that Pixar is masterful at developing character. From the previews, I did not care too much about the old man. I had no way of connecting with him. The first five minutes of the movie created that connection and got you to really care about him, and even want to cry for him. This is the essence of a good story. A movie could have the greatest plot in the world, but if you don't connect with the character, it's boring. Because of their character development, Up was not boring.

I can't name them all, but there were many little things that happened that made you think, "I can relate to that." The humor was based on real life, even if some of the plot seemed incredible. All in all, I highly recommend this movie and it is well worth watching at the theater.

Recently, I found out Pixar is starting to work on their first live action movie, John Carter of Mars, based on the books by Edgar Rice Bourroughs. Since these were some of my favorite books when I was a kid, I hope they continue the same story excellence they've shown with their animation.