Culch.ie

UP

I got to attend the Irish premiere of UP last night. Disney’s new PIXAR movie, this is now firmly at no. 2 in my favourites. Writer/Director Pete Docter and producer Jonas Rivera were also in attendance to a full screen 17 of Cineworld.

I’ll leave the well thought out reviews to those better able for those sort of things (Niall, looking at you here) but I just wanted to share my thoughts.

It’s a Pixar movie. Now, what I mean about that is that it’s of the same high quality and the same entertainment values as the others. It’s not like the others though.

It’s different. This isn’t Wall-E or Finding Nemo or The Incredibles or any of them. It’s better in some ways, simpler in others, decidedly mature in some aspects and less ambitious in the others. It’s just a movie that deserves to be seen on its own merits. Don’t go with expectations other than to be entertained.

It’s funny. Not slap your thighs and tears rolling down your cheeks funny, but funny. Alpha’s voice in particular. You’ll love the dogs.

It’s emotional. It tells the story of Carl and Ellie, of how they met, fell in love, lived together and their adventures. Some parts of it were just so real that their poignancy made them all the more powerful.

It’s for children. Not in a Barney/Teletubbies way or in a “It’s really for adults but you can bring the kids along” way but in a “This will make them think and ask questions and entertain them” way. Definitely bring one, at least.

It’s breathtaking. I can see how this film took five years to complete. The 3D aspects of it far beat any of the others I’ve seen to date. The scenery is beautiful and the colours are vibrant. The illustrations lovingly drawn. The way they approached certain vistas wholly wonderful.

It’s sweet. The relationships between the characters, the manner in which topics like friendship, betrayal, love, death, evil and ambition are approached are all done with a simplistic but inherent sweetness that never lets it stray into the “included for the sake of it” territory.

It’s realistic. Well, okay, not really realistic (we are talking about a floating house here!) but realistic enough to satisfy most people. For something set in a world similar to our own, it’s well done. Serious life-events are handled in a “not solved by a magic wand” way.

It’s a happy movie. You’ll leave entertained, enthralled and feeling like it was worth it. No “ah sure I’ll wait until the DVD” movie this – it deserves to be seen in full glorious 3D. It’s certainly one I’ll return to see when it’s out.

It will make you laugh, think, smile, gasp, put your hands over your eyes, put your heart on your sleeve and make you want an adventure.

UP is released in Ireland on October 2. Check out the website here and the movie on Movies.ie here.