Up
Published September 9, 2023
Film info
- Title Up
- Director Pete Docter
- Year 2009
- Run time 1hr 36m
- Genres Adventure, Family, Comedy, Animation
- Tagline The greatest adventure is just getting back home
Carl Fredericksen, a retired balloon salesman is part rascal, part dreamer who is ready for his last chance at high-flying excitement. Tying thousands of balloons to his house, Carl sets off to the lost world of his childhood dreams. Unbeknownst to Carl, Russell, an overeager 8-year-old Wilderness Explorer who has never ventured beyond his backyard, is in the wrong place at the wrong time - Carl's front porch! The world's most unlikely duo reaches new heights and meets fantastic friends like Dug, a dog with a special collar that allows him to speak, and Kevin, the rare 13-foot tall flightless bird. Stuck together in the wilds of the jungle, Carl realises that sometimes life's biggest adventures aren't the ones you set out looking for.
Live blog
| Time | Comment |
|---|---|
| 1:27 | The word ‘dirigible’ is funny to me. |
| 7:36 | Love getting stuck into the DIY in your wedding dress. |
| 11:40 | That’s basically a whole film in itself. |
| 22:04 | The multi-colour lighting of the balloons is nice. |
| 24:06 | This is a little bit James and the Giant Peach. |
| 25:22 | “I’ve never been in a floating house before.” Who has?? |
| 32:44 | Rope climb is hard! |
| 41:17 | Definitely not what you expect when you train a dog to speak. |
| 49:00 | Cross your heart has a whole new level of meaning. |
| 1:03:12 | I really feel like the house is slowing them down at this point. Priorities. |
| 1:06:03 | “It might sound boring but I think it’s the boring stuff I remember the most.” |
| 1:11:19 | Has he thought this Paradise Falls thing through in terms of where to get food from and stuff? |
| 1:14:58 | Pretty sure he was just flytipping in paradise. |
| 1:23:24 | Squirrel took down the whole squadron. |
Thoughts
I’ve been nervous about watching this because anyone who ever talks about it tends to say they end up in floods of tears - not my go to choice of film! But I’m patching up the holes in my Pixar back catalogue and this is one that had to be done. Actually, it was a lot better than I thought it would be… but somehow also a lot worse.
The first bit, the emotional bit, the incredible romantic montage of a relationship taking up the first ten minutes of the film is perfection. The trouble starts when the action begins… it’s a nice enough story and I’m happy to suspend my disbelief about flying houses and the fact the kid wasn’t there when it took off but then was there on the porch.
But it just goes too far really - the age of Muntz is confusing, that he made amazing dog-talking collars but didn’t feel like he could get respectability back from having done that, the fact they just lucked into landing at the exact place they wanted to, and dogs flying planes? I dunno, it’s fun, it’s better than I thought it would be but it’s also not that great.
Rating: 3 / 5