You call it Up, I call it Down. SPOILERS AHEAD
Don't read if you haven't seen, and want to see eventually.
Decided, on a spur of the moment sort of thing, to order "UP". Thought it looked pretty cute, and who doesn't like the idea of going on an adventure based on a floating house and balloons? Very reminiscent of Pippi Longstocking and James and the Giant Peach. Maybe even Bedknobs and Broomsticks, if you want to really stretch it.
But then tragedy hits. Not once, but about as many times as they could possibly squeeze into an hour and a half.
Oh yes, they're subtle. The average kid won't catch it all. Most people will be oblivious to the typecasting, overtones, etc.
So here they are:
0. Before the story even starts, you meet a young boy watching a movie about a famous explorer who gets debunked and thrown out of an equally famous exploration society. It snowballs from there.
1. Young Carl meets young Ellie. Who is certainly cute enough, and she asks him to promise to take her to Paradise Falls one day. (KEY NOTE: If a cute ass chick asks you to promise to take her away, THAT IS A SIGN.) He promises. Does he take her? No.
2. In the midst of learning about how he never takes her to Paradise Falls, you get the subtle depiction that they are unable to have children.
3. After a long, and what seems to be a happy life(minus the no kids bit), Ellie dies.
4. An undetermined amount of time later, Carl is alone, watching the neighborhood around him get destroyed.
5. A young boy comes to his house, wanting to get help, and in the midst of it, explains that his dad is pretty much never around.
6. Carl, being the ass, decides to send the kid on a snipe hunt, rather than just help him out. Go look up what a snipe hunt is, if you need.
7. Due to an accidental act of emotion, he is then evicted from his house. At this point, the story is spun to indicate that he has now chosen to go on an adventure. Really? He's already lost DAMN NEAR EVERYTHING ELSE. Pity he didn't have the great balloon idea during the previous 40-50 years....
8. In talking with Russell(the boy), you then find out that the person acting like his mom, is not his mom.
9. Skipping ahead slightly, you meet one of the other protagonists, a dog named Doug. Who appears to be mentally handicapped. All the other dogs seem to be of a higher intelligence, even being able to operate aircraft. But the one good natured dog? They make him seem like an idiot. Tough break, Doug. Either you're smart and evil, or good and dumb, I guess.
10. You then meet the famous explorer, whom everyone has forgotten about, and he is still searching for a bird to prove he was right decades ago. What does Carl decide to do? Hide the bird from the guy. At NO POINT does the guy say he's going to kill the bird. In fact, it sounds like he wants to capture it alive. But no, Carl won't allow it, even though he has no reason to do this.
11. You also meet the main evil dog, Alpha. Who, despite only doing what his job is, is stuck in the "Cone of shame", has a voice transmitter broken so he sounds ridiculous, and is ridiculed by all the other dogs. Yes, kids. Important lesson here. When you do what someone tells you, you can end up shamed, and ridiculed.
12. Meanwhile, famous explorer guy not only does not capture the bird, but gets thrown off his zeppelin. Seeing as he only has a few balloons, it's likely he gets killed. So not only does he never get to accomplish his dream, but he gets killed for it.
13. Carl then steals the guy's zeppelin.
14. We then find Carl and Russell at the award ceremony for his Boy Scouts thing. His dad is no where present. His "mom" is, but seem somewhat oblivious to what's going on anyway.
15. The movie ends, showing Carl and Russell running around, with Carl being amazingly more spry than they made him out to be at the beginning of the movie. The last scene, is a picture of the house, on Paradise Falls. The house made the trip, but Carl and Ellie never got to see it together.
I'm supposed to feel good about this movie?
Okay, so call me a cynic. I'm sure some of you will say I'm just depressed right now, and looking at the bad parts of this movie. Get off it. If you want to judge the movie, fine, but don't judge me. I had high expectations of this movie, and it really disappointed.
Parts I did like: The animation was superb. Doug the dog was lovable; and I want him, as well as the giant crack-headed bird guy. Er, girl. Whatever. Minus the physics of all the balloons and the house, the story was very believable. The characters seemed human, and rather varied in their emotional range. Russell, for example, pouting over something Carl did, then showing typical childish determination, and doing something retarded. This is good. That's what a kid would do, and that's what he does.
But at the end of it, the entire movie has this feeling of remorse and a bitter taste to it. Yes, we're given a happy ending of sorts, but what's the real message?
Carl is now off enjoying all those adventures that Ellie wanted from him decades and decades ago. He is doing all those things he promised to do with her, without her.
The bad guy? Someone else who was chasing their dream, almost accomplishes it, only to have it taken away by someone else, then loses their life for it. The other bad guy? A dog doing his job, only to be shamed and made fun of.
What a pile of bullshit.
And before anyone thinks of mentioning the part where they show the book that she had, that said she wants him to have a "new adventure", stop and ask yourself this: If Ellie could have lived long enough to go with him, don't you think she would have preferred that? Don't you think she would have preferred he did this years ago??? Damn straight, she would have.
That was just a cheap cop-out in the movie so that no one would feel bad about him having a good life after she was gone.
Sorry, but promising to take someone somewhere, and taking a house there instead: IS NOT THE SAME THING. Sometimes, the thought does NOT count. Good job Carl. 40-50 years with this woman, and you only make good after she's gone. And you abandon the house, and kidnap some kid instead.
Maybe it's cliche, but here's how I would have gone with it. Carl meets Ellie, and they talk about Paradise Falls. Then, he loses her. She moves away or something.
From this point, the rest of the story is the same. He meets Russell, floats away, does all the rest of that crap....and at the end, ends up running into Ellie at Paradise Falls, in the zeppelin that he stole. She's there, camping out or something, fulfilling her dream as much as he is.
He makes good on his promise(seeing as he does have the house with him), and they also have the zeppelin that owned to the guy they both adored when children. Cue ending credits, showing them having adventures around the world, even though they're 80 something years old.
Now that's a happy ending.
Decided, on a spur of the moment sort of thing, to order "UP". Thought it looked pretty cute, and who doesn't like the idea of going on an adventure based on a floating house and balloons? Very reminiscent of Pippi Longstocking and James and the Giant Peach. Maybe even Bedknobs and Broomsticks, if you want to really stretch it.
But then tragedy hits. Not once, but about as many times as they could possibly squeeze into an hour and a half.
Oh yes, they're subtle. The average kid won't catch it all. Most people will be oblivious to the typecasting, overtones, etc.
So here they are:
0. Before the story even starts, you meet a young boy watching a movie about a famous explorer who gets debunked and thrown out of an equally famous exploration society. It snowballs from there.
1. Young Carl meets young Ellie. Who is certainly cute enough, and she asks him to promise to take her to Paradise Falls one day. (KEY NOTE: If a cute ass chick asks you to promise to take her away, THAT IS A SIGN.) He promises. Does he take her? No.
2. In the midst of learning about how he never takes her to Paradise Falls, you get the subtle depiction that they are unable to have children.
3. After a long, and what seems to be a happy life(minus the no kids bit), Ellie dies.
4. An undetermined amount of time later, Carl is alone, watching the neighborhood around him get destroyed.
5. A young boy comes to his house, wanting to get help, and in the midst of it, explains that his dad is pretty much never around.
6. Carl, being the ass, decides to send the kid on a snipe hunt, rather than just help him out. Go look up what a snipe hunt is, if you need.
7. Due to an accidental act of emotion, he is then evicted from his house. At this point, the story is spun to indicate that he has now chosen to go on an adventure. Really? He's already lost DAMN NEAR EVERYTHING ELSE. Pity he didn't have the great balloon idea during the previous 40-50 years....
8. In talking with Russell(the boy), you then find out that the person acting like his mom, is not his mom.
9. Skipping ahead slightly, you meet one of the other protagonists, a dog named Doug. Who appears to be mentally handicapped. All the other dogs seem to be of a higher intelligence, even being able to operate aircraft. But the one good natured dog? They make him seem like an idiot. Tough break, Doug. Either you're smart and evil, or good and dumb, I guess.
10. You then meet the famous explorer, whom everyone has forgotten about, and he is still searching for a bird to prove he was right decades ago. What does Carl decide to do? Hide the bird from the guy. At NO POINT does the guy say he's going to kill the bird. In fact, it sounds like he wants to capture it alive. But no, Carl won't allow it, even though he has no reason to do this.
11. You also meet the main evil dog, Alpha. Who, despite only doing what his job is, is stuck in the "Cone of shame", has a voice transmitter broken so he sounds ridiculous, and is ridiculed by all the other dogs. Yes, kids. Important lesson here. When you do what someone tells you, you can end up shamed, and ridiculed.
12. Meanwhile, famous explorer guy not only does not capture the bird, but gets thrown off his zeppelin. Seeing as he only has a few balloons, it's likely he gets killed. So not only does he never get to accomplish his dream, but he gets killed for it.
13. Carl then steals the guy's zeppelin.
14. We then find Carl and Russell at the award ceremony for his Boy Scouts thing. His dad is no where present. His "mom" is, but seem somewhat oblivious to what's going on anyway.
15. The movie ends, showing Carl and Russell running around, with Carl being amazingly more spry than they made him out to be at the beginning of the movie. The last scene, is a picture of the house, on Paradise Falls. The house made the trip, but Carl and Ellie never got to see it together.
I'm supposed to feel good about this movie?
Okay, so call me a cynic. I'm sure some of you will say I'm just depressed right now, and looking at the bad parts of this movie. Get off it. If you want to judge the movie, fine, but don't judge me. I had high expectations of this movie, and it really disappointed.
Parts I did like: The animation was superb. Doug the dog was lovable; and I want him, as well as the giant crack-headed bird guy. Er, girl. Whatever. Minus the physics of all the balloons and the house, the story was very believable. The characters seemed human, and rather varied in their emotional range. Russell, for example, pouting over something Carl did, then showing typical childish determination, and doing something retarded. This is good. That's what a kid would do, and that's what he does.
But at the end of it, the entire movie has this feeling of remorse and a bitter taste to it. Yes, we're given a happy ending of sorts, but what's the real message?
Carl is now off enjoying all those adventures that Ellie wanted from him decades and decades ago. He is doing all those things he promised to do with her, without her.
The bad guy? Someone else who was chasing their dream, almost accomplishes it, only to have it taken away by someone else, then loses their life for it. The other bad guy? A dog doing his job, only to be shamed and made fun of.
What a pile of bullshit.
And before anyone thinks of mentioning the part where they show the book that she had, that said she wants him to have a "new adventure", stop and ask yourself this: If Ellie could have lived long enough to go with him, don't you think she would have preferred that? Don't you think she would have preferred he did this years ago??? Damn straight, she would have.
That was just a cheap cop-out in the movie so that no one would feel bad about him having a good life after she was gone.
Sorry, but promising to take someone somewhere, and taking a house there instead: IS NOT THE SAME THING. Sometimes, the thought does NOT count. Good job Carl. 40-50 years with this woman, and you only make good after she's gone. And you abandon the house, and kidnap some kid instead.
Maybe it's cliche, but here's how I would have gone with it. Carl meets Ellie, and they talk about Paradise Falls. Then, he loses her. She moves away or something.
From this point, the rest of the story is the same. He meets Russell, floats away, does all the rest of that crap....and at the end, ends up running into Ellie at Paradise Falls, in the zeppelin that he stole. She's there, camping out or something, fulfilling her dream as much as he is.
He makes good on his promise(seeing as he does have the house with him), and they also have the zeppelin that owned to the guy they both adored when children. Cue ending credits, showing them having adventures around the world, even though they're 80 something years old.
Now that's a happy ending.