CoolTrainerTerry
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Nov 25, 2005
- Messages
- 692
From Cinematical.com:
I'm not going to review UP because it would be the umpteenth review you've read in a handful of days, and it's not as though I'm going to be the one sour lemon of the bunch. Please. It's PIXAR. Hating one of their films is like hating your own mom.
But I think UP is more than a fantastic movie. I think it might go down as an important moment of animation, storytelling, film making, and even this nebulous thing called "geekdom." That's a lot to put on its helium-hoisted shoulders, I'll grant you, but the reaction surrounding the film isn't something I've seen from any PIXAR effort yet. This is something special, and my first thought when the credits rolled was "This wasn't for kids. PIXAR has grown up ... and this movie makes me cry because I've grown up."
I'm starting to see their films as the story of fandom, geekdom, and the painful march into true adulthood. I'm not saying it's an overt theme, but just a gentle interpretation that begins with Toy Story, a movie that's very much about being a kid, the thrill of having the newest and the best, and the fear of being uncool and left out. It's childhood. It's the purity of fandom, which sets the stage for the darker side of Toy Story 2. If Toy Story remembers how wonderful it is to see Star Wars for the first time, the sequel reminds you of how seductive and destructive nostalgia can be. This is the darker side of fandom, not only in its damning picture of the basement dwelling collector, but in its portrayal of those who would do anything to bottle up childhood. It's about being so obsessed with something that you would hermetically seal yourself. (Wait, did The 40 Year Old Virgin rip off Toy Story 2?)
Every subsequent PIXAR film has been a little more about growing up and facing reality. I think this is why a lot of adult fans have issues with A Bug's Life. It's cute, it's fun, but it's a step backward. It's the indulgent fan taking time to remake their Kurosawa because they can, and hey, there's nothing wrong with that once you've got the resources. (Plus, think of all the little kids who will be able to understand The Seven Samurai once they grow up!)
But the fanboys who produced A Bug's Life got all that Star Wars stuff out of their system. Instead of preserving themselves like a Prospector Pete (which I suspect is a little jab at Disney's ongoing hunger for the newest and youngest preteen), they've done a Remy the Rat, and used their love and fandom to produce something worthy of consumption. The geeks grew up, and they tackled parenthood, environmentalism, love, urban sprawl, destiny, aging, and death. Not all of these have been successes a lot of people dismiss Finding Nemo (I don't), and few liked CARS. But not one of these is a terrible film, and none of them are pure, loud commercialism. They're all exploring and questioning something. That's more than you can say for a lot of films from any studio, be they live action or animated.
UP is the moment when PIXAR stopped, realized how old they are, and said "Wow. I need to sit down. I need to think about this a minute." They turned it into a movie with balloons, birds, and whimsy that disguised a story of scars, heartache, and the sum of a life's adventure. The fears of aging that were hinted at in all their previous efforts suddenly were tackled head on, accepted, and moved past. It's a lesson to all of us, and it's a rather powerful one to nostalgia-hungry audiences that hang onto what we love and beg for prequels and spin-offs. It's not as harsh as William Shatner's "Get a life!" but it's a gentle reminder to stop and enjoy the memories. It's just a house. It's just a movie.
But I'm not sure UP will ever just be a movie. What makes it important for film is that they've told this story through animation. Film and animation buffs have been clamoring for years for adult animation to become mainstream, and I think UP might be the movie that finally makes it palatable to the masses. This story is no less heartbreaking for being told through animation, no less identifiable because of its cute, appealing characters. Thanks to years of solid storytelling, adults aren't embarrassed to be seen going to a PIXAR movie, and they aren't scrambling for a kid to take along as cover. UP showings were sold out around the clock morning, noon, and night, 3-D and 2-D. It's being treated like any other film. That's huge. But it's also no surprise, and it's old hat to those of us who are comfortable in the world of comic books, graphic novels, foreign animation, manga, and anime. We've known that real stories can be told in "cartoonish" ways for decades now. Just because the protagonist is a squashy, square guy like Carl or a vigilante in a skull t-shirt doesn't make the story any less authentic.
PIXAR will always make movies that are fun, and young at heart, but UP feels like the culmination of their youth. It's not the end of a journey, but they know who they are and what they want to do. They'll keep pushing the boundaries and they are proof positive as to how mainstream "geekdom" can be, how mature it can be when it wants to, and what rich stories it can produce. I can't wait to see the next page in their adventure book.
I'm not going to review UP because it would be the umpteenth review you've read in a handful of days, and it's not as though I'm going to be the one sour lemon of the bunch. Please. It's PIXAR. Hating one of their films is like hating your own mom.
But I think UP is more than a fantastic movie. I think it might go down as an important moment of animation, storytelling, film making, and even this nebulous thing called "geekdom." That's a lot to put on its helium-hoisted shoulders, I'll grant you, but the reaction surrounding the film isn't something I've seen from any PIXAR effort yet. This is something special, and my first thought when the credits rolled was "This wasn't for kids. PIXAR has grown up ... and this movie makes me cry because I've grown up."
I'm starting to see their films as the story of fandom, geekdom, and the painful march into true adulthood. I'm not saying it's an overt theme, but just a gentle interpretation that begins with Toy Story, a movie that's very much about being a kid, the thrill of having the newest and the best, and the fear of being uncool and left out. It's childhood. It's the purity of fandom, which sets the stage for the darker side of Toy Story 2. If Toy Story remembers how wonderful it is to see Star Wars for the first time, the sequel reminds you of how seductive and destructive nostalgia can be. This is the darker side of fandom, not only in its damning picture of the basement dwelling collector, but in its portrayal of those who would do anything to bottle up childhood. It's about being so obsessed with something that you would hermetically seal yourself. (Wait, did The 40 Year Old Virgin rip off Toy Story 2?)
Every subsequent PIXAR film has been a little more about growing up and facing reality. I think this is why a lot of adult fans have issues with A Bug's Life. It's cute, it's fun, but it's a step backward. It's the indulgent fan taking time to remake their Kurosawa because they can, and hey, there's nothing wrong with that once you've got the resources. (Plus, think of all the little kids who will be able to understand The Seven Samurai once they grow up!)
But the fanboys who produced A Bug's Life got all that Star Wars stuff out of their system. Instead of preserving themselves like a Prospector Pete (which I suspect is a little jab at Disney's ongoing hunger for the newest and youngest preteen), they've done a Remy the Rat, and used their love and fandom to produce something worthy of consumption. The geeks grew up, and they tackled parenthood, environmentalism, love, urban sprawl, destiny, aging, and death. Not all of these have been successes a lot of people dismiss Finding Nemo (I don't), and few liked CARS. But not one of these is a terrible film, and none of them are pure, loud commercialism. They're all exploring and questioning something. That's more than you can say for a lot of films from any studio, be they live action or animated.
UP is the moment when PIXAR stopped, realized how old they are, and said "Wow. I need to sit down. I need to think about this a minute." They turned it into a movie with balloons, birds, and whimsy that disguised a story of scars, heartache, and the sum of a life's adventure. The fears of aging that were hinted at in all their previous efforts suddenly were tackled head on, accepted, and moved past. It's a lesson to all of us, and it's a rather powerful one to nostalgia-hungry audiences that hang onto what we love and beg for prequels and spin-offs. It's not as harsh as William Shatner's "Get a life!" but it's a gentle reminder to stop and enjoy the memories. It's just a house. It's just a movie.
But I'm not sure UP will ever just be a movie. What makes it important for film is that they've told this story through animation. Film and animation buffs have been clamoring for years for adult animation to become mainstream, and I think UP might be the movie that finally makes it palatable to the masses. This story is no less heartbreaking for being told through animation, no less identifiable because of its cute, appealing characters. Thanks to years of solid storytelling, adults aren't embarrassed to be seen going to a PIXAR movie, and they aren't scrambling for a kid to take along as cover. UP showings were sold out around the clock morning, noon, and night, 3-D and 2-D. It's being treated like any other film. That's huge. But it's also no surprise, and it's old hat to those of us who are comfortable in the world of comic books, graphic novels, foreign animation, manga, and anime. We've known that real stories can be told in "cartoonish" ways for decades now. Just because the protagonist is a squashy, square guy like Carl or a vigilante in a skull t-shirt doesn't make the story any less authentic.
PIXAR will always make movies that are fun, and young at heart, but UP feels like the culmination of their youth. It's not the end of a journey, but they know who they are and what they want to do. They'll keep pushing the boundaries and they are proof positive as to how mainstream "geekdom" can be, how mature it can be when it wants to, and what rich stories it can produce. I can't wait to see the next page in their adventure book.
