I can’t say that Up was a bad movie. It was, in many ways, good.
When Chicken Run came out, it was 90%+ on the Tomatometer. Over the years I’ve noticed this across the board. Animated movies can be very high (with a few exceptions).
Waiting for Up, we saw trailers for two horrible looking animated features.
Up, however, didn’t look horrible. The Pixar/Disney film looked great. The styles, shapes, shading and color were fantastic. They’re not done with a realist’s eye, but with true inspiration. And the writing! It was nail on the head. When they needed a sad beat, it was at their finger tips (failed at child-birth, forcing your wife needlessly up a death march of a hill to give her a poignant present, killing her before she reaches to bow on the box, a boy whose douche bag father’s new woman berates him for longing for paternal acceptance). If they needed cute, oh, that came out of thin air. Baby chicks, Seth Rogen in dog form (seriously cute)…
And the Tomatometer shows it. Another 90+ for Disney/Pixar. Most of their pictures are in that range. Places usually reserved for Best Picture Nominees. Are these production companies the greatest motion picture artists of a generation? Since Beauty and the Beast danced across a psychedelic chandelier with Oscar, can they do no wrong?
- Beauty and the Beast (1991) – 93%
- Aladdin (1992) – 91%
- The Lion King (1994) – 92%
- Toy Story (1995) – 100%
- Antz (1998) – 95%
- Toy Story 2 (1999) – 100%
- Chicken Run (2000) – 98%
- The Incredibles (2004) – 97%
- Ratatouille (2007) – 97%
- Wall-E (2008) – 97%
- Up (2009) – 97%
I think that the format and style lends itself to a low bar. Leaving Up, we re-conjure the part of the film we like and, if we laugh some, check. If we are sad, another check. Shed a tear? Check plus. Laugh with that tear still on our cheek and awards season isn’t that far off. The child in us does a little victory dance.
Up seems to try a little too hard for that tear. Defeats are brutal and relentless, and they are executed with a sadistic exuberance. If this were recreated in live action it would be beyond disturbing. Early on we would watch the main character start as a darling little boy and build a beautifully charming life with the love of his life. After she passes, THE MAN comes and tries to squeeze our ideal grandfather out to make way for some horrible tenement. The plucky hero, courageously stands up for his heart. Picture Ernest Hemingway or the Dos Equis guy in your head. Then, a couple of construction goofballs (think Charlie Sheen and Emilio Estevez) accidentally knock over his mail box. Suddenly plucky old man goes all Falling Down on the guy. The cartoon naturally softens the violence, but the fall from grace becomes too realistic and breaks the spell.
Plus
Leads to this:
Click here to view the embedded video.
Of course, he is booked, tried in a court of law, found guilty, and forced out of his home, by Agent Smith from The Matrix, no less.
If it is so obvious that these situations are just previous motion picture archetypes playing twister on a story board somewhere at Pixar or Disney, why such hard charging positive reviews? It has to be that victory dance. The appeal of a dog telling us the reason he fell asleep next to us on the couch was because he loved us. What kid doesn’t love that? One issue with Up is that this well honed vernacular seems too technical. Technical can be beautiful, and often has been for Pixar. Up, however, lacks the pitch perfect balance that turns something technical into what the french call technique.
I can’t wave you off seeing Up. In fact, I can guarantee you will see something you like. And, maybe that is enough. (But, I prefer Miyazaki.)
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Originally posted on:
The Haute Critique