Up up and away!

It has been a long time since a movie has lifted my spirits and had me leaving the theater with a smile. Up is a masterpiece in storytelling. This is a movie that shows that you don’t need the wittiest dialogue, or the flashiest animation, or the most inventive imagination to please audience- although Up has those in spades- what a movie really needs are characters that the audience can relate to, and cheer for.
Up is the story of an old man who has recently lost his wife, and the fulfillment of a dream he and his former wife shared. Up is the story of a boy, who isn’t he brightest, or the coolest, who aspires to get the last badge in a boy scout like organization. Up is about the dangers of obsession, the value of true friendship even when it extends beyond our own species.
Sounds generic? Sounds boring? No! This is all given the Pixar flair, which will leave you wanting more.
Relationships are the true heart of this movie. While moments like when the house flies for the first time, widens our eyes with wonder, it is really the small, personal, moments that make this movie a joy. In one particular scene Russ the old man sits down and looks at a book that shows the life he and his wife had lead together, their adventures, the music is soothing, and the moment touching. The wild action of the movie created some wonderful thrills, but it was those soft, touching, human moments that lifted this movie from a mere summer animation movie to a Pixar classic.
This film is a Herculean feat of imagination. Pixar has done the impossible and has made not only made the idea of a house floating from the power of a million balloons seem credible, but they have also given credence to the idea of technology assisted dogs that talk, serve and act as much as human as humans do, until of course they don’t. The roadrunner like bird that likes chocolate and the boy it loves shows us that friends can come in all sorts of packages.
Of course this being a Pixar movie means that the animation will be top notch, and it is. The landscapes, the waterfalls, and the skies look like they took pictures of everything and then rendered in cartoon colors. Everything looks real. Inside the house is no less spectacular, the pictures and vases, the things that make a home, home were crafted with perfection.
Pixar shows us the power of the imagination, and once again illustrates the flexibility and power of the human spirit. Kids and Parents, as well as other human beings will enjoy this movie, if only for different reasons.