Techie
3:05 AM | Tuesday | 16 March 2010

Pixar's line of blockbusters is a feat that other animation studios can only dream about. But while their past films have followed a generally light and comical tone, their latest movie, Up, deviates from the tested formula to deliver an experience that will surely catch anyone unaware.

You may have already seen the trailer and have an idea of what the movie is about. Up is indeed about 79-year-old Carl Fredricksen's (Ed Asner) dream of flying his house to South America. Along the way, he meets Russel (Jordan Nagai), a young Wilderness Explorer who wishes to earn his "Assisting the Elderly" badge. Together, they embark on an adventure to meet weird creatures like talking dogs and giant birds and get themselves tangled in even weirder situations.

Sound simple? Well, that's exactly what Pixar wants you to think. While the story above is true, it barely explains one-tenth of the picture. Up is filled to the brim with symbolism and emotional themes that it will make anyone wonder how director Pete Docter and his crew were able to mesh everything together into a cohesive storyline.

The house

Spoiler Alert!

Contrary to what you may think, the movie's most important character is not Carl or Russel, but the house Carl endearingly calls "Ellie." The house is essentially what the whole story revolves around, and its importance has been highlighted from the beginning of the film.

Trailers made no mention of Fredricksen's past or what motivated him to fly to the south, so we didn't know what to expect. True enough, when the touching love story between Carl and his wife Ellie (Elie Docter) was revealed, there were more than a few moviegoers who broke into tears and never stopped crying until the movie ended.

Narration sensation

Wall-E showed that Pixar could create an entire movie with virtually no dialogue. Up proves that they have mastered the formula as the movie brilliantly tells Ellie and Carl's story with nothing but images and music.

It wasn't just basic storytelling either. Imagine being able to show audiences that Carl and Ellie were unable to bear children without uttering a single word. Or that Ellie got sick, was hospitalized, and died – in less than five minutes.

Of course, the movie isn't perfect from beginning to end, and a lot of scenes and elements begged for explanation. For example, where did Carl's hero-turned-villain Charles Muntz (Christopher Plummer) get his gang of rabid dogs? Or where did he get the technology to make them talk? And more importantly, if Muntz was already an adult when Carl was a kid, how old was he when Carl was 79?

All that, however, doesn't matter, as in the end, the story still feels whole. Word of advice: Don't see this movie alone – you're going to want to talk to somebody about Up long after you've left your seat.

3D? What 3D?

George Lucas once said that special effects are just a tool to help moviemakers tell the story better. This statement is no more evident than with Up, especially when you see it in 3D. (Pixar, coincidentally, is a breakaway group from Lucasfilm.)

Despite the hype of the movie being Pixar's first full three-dimensional film, you will forget that you're seeing the movie in digital 3D. The story is so compelling and utterly gripping that you will be awed more by its sheer brilliance rather than the way it is delivered. That alone is a mark of a truly great film.

Up opens in theaters locally August 19th. See it at Greenbelt 3's Cinema 1 and experience it in full Dolby Digital 3D.