Up

The opening 5 minutes of Up is a brilliant, heartbreaking montage detailing the life story of Carl Fredricksen from an awestruck child watching newsreels on the exploits of his hero, explorer Charles Muntz, to a lonely, elderly man coping with the sudden passing of the love of his life. To watch this perfectly-accomplished sequence without a lump in the throat is impossible: this is easily the most moving and poetic piece of animation I have ever seen and alone would guarantee this film a 4 star rating, but it is only the beginning of this wonderful, thoughtful, and very funny movie.

Carl's modern life is an unhappy, stoic grind: a retired balloon salesman, he seems to take pleasure only in playing the pebble in the shoe of urban developers busily converting his old neighborhood into a faceless, concrete-and-glass downtown plaza. To the people working around his house, Carl is a broken-down crank, antisocial and unlikeable and clinging to a quaint old world that no longer exists. Then, an unfortunate incident with a well-meaning construction worker finally puts the ball in the developer's court and Carl is given barely 12 hours to prepare for life in a retirement home.

Rather than give in to inevitability, however, Carl leafs through his wife's old adventure journal and, in a wonderful sequence, uses thousands of unsold helium balloons to lift his house from its foundation and send himself on his way to South America, where an adventure that once defined his half-forgotten childhood awaits. Of course, it is just when Carl is settling into his favorite chair, feeling self-satisfied and at peace at last that a wrinkle in his plans arrives in the form of an inadvertent stowaway on his house-turned-aircraft. Russell, a bubbly, overweight cub scout in search of his last merit badge (for helping the elderly, natch) is trapped on his front porch and childless Carl is forced to cope with his unexpected guest explorer.

I won't divulge what happens with the plot once the explorers quickly reach Paradise Falls, South America, though I'm sure many of you will be able to figure out what is ultimately behind a squad of malevolent talking dogs (whose audible thought processes draw some of the biggest laughs of the movie) and what all of this ultimately has to do with a gawky, seemingly affect-less flightless bird that Russell befriends and names "Kevin." There is also a surprisingly action-packed (and occasionally intense) final third that often feels more like The Incredibles than what you might have been expecting, yet still feels completely right nonetheless.

It's striking to consider that other animation studios have yet to figure out that you can create modern animated movies of peerless quality without having to rely on identifiable celebrity voices and constant, smart-assed pop culture references. As always with Pixar, clever character development and an accessible, enthralling story makes these movies as special and as universally appealing as they are. I can't sing the praises of these guys enough: this is a seemingly fearless studio whose standard of excellence continues to know no bounds, and with Up they have once again delivered what is very likely to be the best film I will see this year.

Up rating: 5/5