I enjoyed reading your review, Mark-E, even if you think it’s disjointed. Your love for the film really comes across.
My review might be quite long…I have a lot to say about this film. 
Having seen Partly Cloudy, I will say that at that moment, I was perhaps a little disappointed. (I’ll go into that in the Partly Cloudy thread, though my concerns seem to be similar to others’ who have made similar points). But the opening montage of Up stopped me from having any more worries. I loved meeting [spoil]Ellie, who came across as such a boistrous, forceful yet loveable character. Even though she didn’t have much time in the film, her personality was so vivid that it’s easy to see why Carl was so affected by her death.[/spoil]
Obviously the way the film looked was spectacular throughout, though I’m not sure if the 3D added much. I’m seeing it again next time, so I’ll compare the two. But as per usual with Pixar, it wasn’t the look of the film but the story and characters within it that really shined.
A lot of the storyline took me by surprise, especially as showing certain bits to very little kids might raise a few questions. One bit that, for some reason, really shocked me was when [spoil]Carl hit the guy’s head, the one that was trying to fix his broken mailbox. I wasn’t shocked by what Carl had done- he was under such stress that it’s understandable- but more shocked by the fact that Pixar decided to show it, and to show how those in the world who are innocent can still be easily prosecuted and put into a situation where you can’t help but lash out.[/spoil]
As for the characters, I fell in love with most of them, mainly Carl and Kevin. Carl is such an adorable, sweet man and I love how he kept [spoil]talking to Ellie throughout the movie. He learns so much about moving on from the past and having your own adventures, and I love that despite his age, he does learn so much.[/spoil] And Kevin’s just awesome. I had a feeling I’d like her from the trailers, but I had no idea just how cool she is! I love how she is both intelligent but clearly bird-brained, and how her key motivation is to [spoil]get back to her kids (which also ties in nicely with the whole Carl/Russell relationship.)[/spoil]
Muntz was also a surprise character for me. I had no idea where he fitted into the story, but right from that opening montage where we see [spoil]how he’s rejected by his peers and has lost the respect of everyone he knows, I could tell that he was going to come back later on in the film and mess things up. I keep questioning why he spent so long trying to find Kevin, and why he didn’t stop- didn’t he have any family? Did the respect of his peers really mean that much to him? [/spoil] He could’ve been explored more, though I do understand why he wasn’t. After all, the focus of the movie is Carl, and what Muntz represents is basically a [spoil]fallen role model that he once looked up to.[/spoil]
Oh, and Dug is awesome too. He obviously represents a few key things, like [spoil]not being afraid to be different and doing what you think is right[/spoil], but Dug really comes into his own with that amazing humour.
The story flowed well, and I kind of like how it becomes more and more psychadelic as the film goes on. The ending was satisfying, and I like how there wasn’t a feeling of, “oh, that’s the end of the film so that’s it.” The idea that [spoil]Carl and Russell go on another adventure of sorts means that though the film still evokes that sense of closure, it’s easy to imagine the two of them carrying on and doing so much more after we see the ending credits.[/spoil]
I wish I could end the review there. But, unfortunately, I don’t think it’s all good. Don’t get me wrong- this is a great Pixar movie, and in comparison to most other movies around it’s almost a work of genious- but I had a few gripes.
It’s probably a personal thing, but I just didn’t like the character of Russell. I warmed up to him a little more when he reveals that [spoil]he doesn’t really have a father figure and something’s happened to his mother (though it’s never really clear what the situation is, just that she isn’t there). And he does grow as a character throughout the movie, starting off as a kid with the sole aim of getting his assisting the elderly badge, but then we find out why it matters so much to him and he reveals his own loving side when it comes to his attachments to Kevin and Dug. But…I don’t really know what it is, but despite all of this he still seemed a little flat. And a bit annoying. [/spoil] It’s difficult for me to quantify, but perhaps it’s because in comparison, Carl is such a deep, deep character, that even though Russell does have some depth, it’s never going to be anything near the depth achieved with Carl.
Also, the story was good- very good- but part of me does feel that it comes across as just an extension of an idea. So the main, original idea was [spoil]guy lives life but doesn’t embark on the adventure of his dreams, ends up doing so at an old age and ties lots of balloons to his house and goes somewhere very far away. Which in theory sounds like a great idea, but much like with Partly Cloudy in a way (“okay, so let’s think of where babies come from…storks…clouds! And now let’s create a story around this”) the story that comes out of the idea perhaps isn’t as concise or as satisfying as previous Pixar movies. Like, with every Pixar movie there’s a key idea (toys come alive, monsters are real, fish loses his son and tries to get back to him, etc.) but the story that evolves around each key idea has to be well developed enough to be convincing. Carl wanted to go on an adventure because he hadn’t done so before and had promised Ellie he would, fine. But the whole Muntz trying to track down Kevin thing just seemed like an unfortunate sideline created to introduce strange and curious creatures, and perhaps also to offer an alternative viewpoint (Carl=letting go of past=good, Muntz=not letting go of past=death). And I’m pleased that they did what they did. It’s just it perhaps doesn’t flow as well as I thought it would.[/spoil]
All in all, there’s no doubt in my mind that this is an amazing Pixar film, one of their best. I left the cinema feeling great, knowing that I’d just seen something quite spectacular. I think it has its flaws, more in execution than in anything else, but the heart of the film is perfect. It sends out a great message without being preachy (something Pixar are getting to be experts at!) and is really quite an emotional ride, moreso than I expected.
Plus, for me to be going to see it again in the cinema, it has to be good because I never do that.
I’ll shut up now!
[/spoil]
This is wandering off into Fanficland, but I’m sure there were people who cared about what happened to him; we just don’t know about it because it’s not part of the story.[/spoil]