There’s moments in Cinema where you just have to sit back and marvel at the complete and total brilliance on shown by the filmmaker and it’s no understatement that every single movie made by the Pixar Studio has one of these moments, sometimes more, but it all pales in comparison when you have finished viewing the opening 11minutes of their latest masterpiece, Up. The director scales us through the entire courtship of Carl and Ellie, from the wonderful first meeting, to their wedding and clips of their life together, right up until her death, which then leaves Carl to wander back to his house alone. It is poignant without being mawkish, tenderly done and completely heartbreaking. If they manage to top this opening in any of their future projects then you may well be looking at one of the best films ever. But enough about Toy Story 3.
The plot is simple; cranky widower Carl decides to fulfil his late wife’s lifelong dream of living in the mystical land of Paradise Falls. He achieves this by attaching thousands of balloons to his house and sailing over by air. Things don’t go so smoothly when he finds a stowaway in the shape of portly wilderness explorer Russell who then attracts more attention than Carl would care to have.
In some ways it would appear a very dull subject but ultimately the reason for the trip carries more than enough weight. Add to this some of the best voice acting put to film and a script that is as razor sharp as it is filled with well shaped sentiment and it is up there with the best of Pixar. It is amazing that they are still not resting on their laurels in the slightest, even now they have ten films under their belt. In fact bar the mild blip with Cars (which was still visually breathtaking and genius in parts) each of their films is a masterpiece of visual mixed with perfect storytelling, and now they have completely mastered their human characters as much as their lovable collection of monsters, toys and aquatic creatures. Personally I feel that pound for pound Carl is Pixar’s best creation to date and all of the supporting characters add a wonderful edge to the proceedings. The only minor gripe would be the utter villainy of Charles Muntz, who was both Carl and Ellie’s lifelong hero. It seems a bit tacked on that he has to be so crazy but as I said, it is being very nitpicky. The finale does not disappoint, and includes a wonderful moment when Carl looks back though Ellie’s adventure memories book.
As an example of storytelling it has rarely been matched this year. As part of the Pixar cannon, it stands level with Toy Story, Nemo & Wall-E and could well in time (Toy Story 3 not withstanding) be looked upon as their ultimate achievement. A joy and a privilege to watch from start to finish.
5/5
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