I'm surprised there isn't a thread for this movie already! Unless I missed it in the first 7 pages and the search function is borked.
Anyway, from here on out I'm going to say to expect some potential spoilers, just incase people forget to use spoiler tags.
I saw Up for the 2nd time at a midnight showing. I have yet to see the short: Partly Cloudy, which means I will most definitely be going to see this movie a third time.
I'm not sure where this movie stands yet as far as my favorite Pixar films, but I know it's near the top. Every time they make a new movie Pixar does a good job of trying to raise the bar for themselves. I feel that they've done it again. I felt that this film was the most depressing of their movies... and I don't think it's a bad thing. The first 12 minutes or so were beautifully done... perfectly encapsulating the relationship of Ellie and Carl. They give you just enough information about Ellie so when Carl is left alone you really feel for him.
The scene where Carl finally gets the house to Paradise Falls and looks through the Adventure Book was the scene that almost made me cry though... I teared up a few places in the film, but I really thought I was going to cry at this point. You really do forget that these are animated characters, the nature of human emotion was portrayed well in this film.
Also, when Muntz tried to light Carl's house on fire... I involuntarily muttered "Holy shit!" under my breath. I tensed up and everything, I can't remember the last time I caught myself off guard reacting to a movie like that.
The humor was well done in this film, though I wouldn't say that this is Pixar's funniest. I really don't know what movie I would give that to as all of their films seem to have a good balance of humor according to plot.
My one complaint with this movie is that it felt like it went by too quick... it felt short and left me wanting more! This is probably a good thing, but I wish it had been maybe 15 minutes longer or so, it just felt like the plot moved along so quickly. I think the main point that made me feel this way was when Carl and Russel eat in the Spirit of Adventure, and Muntz goes from being amiable to suddenly becoming an antagonist. It seemed like there should have been a little more time to establish Muntz as a friend to make his shift feel like more of a shock for Carl. There's too much good in this movie for me to let that bother me too much though.
The music was also well done, I liked the old-timey feel, like 30's-40's brass, and the main theme that popped up now and then was perfectly chosen to remind the audience of earlier points in Carl's life. I've really come to enjoy Michael Giacchino's work in film though. His theme for Star Trek was awesome, his score for the Incredibles and Ratatouille was amazing.
I really wish I could have seen Partly Cloudy, but maybe soon. I left this movie feeling bittersweet... kind of empty, probably because I went alone to both showings. But I did thoroughly enjoy the film. What did you guys think?
