I'm not going to review the Toy Story films. They don't need my praise to convince you to see them, they're two of the finest films ever made. But IF you do see this and can catch a showing of these movies in 3D I highly reccomend it. And not just these movies but Pixar 3D in general.
About an hour into the first film my friend leaned over and says something about feeling shammed because the movie's didn't feel 3D. YES. That's what I love about my experience with both Up and the Toy Story films in 3D. No flying objects at the screen, no fire comming out at you, these movies were made without the three dimensions and then had enhanced visuals added later. And it works better than specifically catered 3D films.
Both movies 3D help enhance the visuals and emerce you MORE into the movie. I became unaware of how far away the screen was, unaware of the rows and rows of seats in front of me, and was in my own world for 3 hours with the movies. It was worth it entirely.
The intermission also deserves a mention, because it was fairly entertaining with clips, fun facts, and trivia. If it doesn't take 10 minutes for you to get food and go to the bathroom I'd reccomend heading back for the fun in the theater. Both films are A's. They're great. It's Pixar.
Showing posts with label Pixar. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Pixar. Show all posts
Monday, October 12, 2009
Sunday, May 31, 2009
Up (3D) Review
If you need to read this review to determine whether or not you should go see Up then you clearly do not see movies very often. The answer to this simple question is: Yes. It's Pixar. 'Nuff said.
If you'd like my opinions on the said film though here they are. Up is a combination of what makes Pixar the best in animation. It combines story elements and design elements from its past films for something amazing. (Generally I would go into the story and what Up is about but judging by the hype for this film, I'll just embed the trailer at the bottom of the post for you to see for yourself).
I'll say right off the bat that Up is not my favorite Pixar film. I'll reiterate, that doesn't mean its bad. For me Wall-E is the height of American animation. It had a social commentary on the world (fairly ambitious, even for Pixar), it had a gorgeous silent film aspect to it which is lost on today's audience, and it looked amazing. Up of course uses similar tactics. It's take on accepting death and taking up for adventure was incredibly well done and the design aspects of Up are the best ever.
Up's visual style is its greatest aspect. Not only is it incredibly colorful and eye pleasing, something lost on Pixar's recent attempts. Wall-E's dullness wasn't bad because it contributed to the world Wall-E lived in, but the world of Up's leading man Carl Fredrickson requires a vision of colorfulness. Even the character design Pixar nails on the head. If their is one thing that Pixar doesn't do, its humans. Aside from The Incredibles, Pixar mostly sticks with cars, toys, fish, rats, robots and monsters, but their zany characters in this film fit the atmosphere. The one thing that is noticeable is Carl's design and the design of his late wife Ellie are conflicting in the right ways. Carl is a restrained and bitter individual without Ellie and thus his character is physically block-ish. His head resembles a square, his fingers are rectangle esc, where as Ellie is round and bouncy and cute, everything Carl isn't. The ying-yang syndrome strikes again for Pixar.
The part of Up that shocked me the most was the emotional attachment I caught myself feeling to Carl during his reminiscing about Ellie I grew incredibly depressed for our hero. At one point I caught myself tearing up for a connection with a character Pixar only spent 15 minutes developing but a whole film furthering. The beginning silent sequence about Carl's life with Ellie is one of the best scenes I've seen this year, and one of Pixar's greatest ever.
The 3D aspect of Up is also incredibly alluring. It wasn't in your face like the recent Monsters Vs. Aliens, and it wasn't formulaic in that sense at all. Half the time I forgot I was wearing the glasses and that it was in 3D, but at the same time I felt part of the movie. It brought me in to the screen in a different way and it makes me think the extra couple of dollars was well worth it.
But the rest of Up is merely good. The young boy scout character Russell was cutesy but I never found myself quite connected to him as I did to Carl. Still he represented a side of Ellie that Carl lacked and from a character development aspect that was incredibly well done. The supporting animals, notably Kevin the bird and Dug the dog were good additions to the rag-tag group, and even the villain (no spoilers here) were good but not amazing. The only part of the film that lost me was how over done the talking-dog bit was. It just wasn't that funny by the end, and I could have done without it.
Up was phenomenal, don't walk away from this thinking otherwise, but when Pixar does such an AMAZING job every time it becomes hard not to nitpick. The only major issue I had was how attached I was with the Carl-Ellie aspect of the film compared to the rest of the movie, which I found to be good by Pixar standards but not great by any stretch (in Non-Pixar standards it WAS amazing though). Up certainly is better than Toy Story or A Bug's Life for me personally but didn't quite touch Ratatouille or Wall-E. Does that mean anything? NO! Go see it and make your own decision, its still phenomenal either way. Grade - A
If you'd like my opinions on the said film though here they are. Up is a combination of what makes Pixar the best in animation. It combines story elements and design elements from its past films for something amazing. (Generally I would go into the story and what Up is about but judging by the hype for this film, I'll just embed the trailer at the bottom of the post for you to see for yourself).
I'll say right off the bat that Up is not my favorite Pixar film. I'll reiterate, that doesn't mean its bad. For me Wall-E is the height of American animation. It had a social commentary on the world (fairly ambitious, even for Pixar), it had a gorgeous silent film aspect to it which is lost on today's audience, and it looked amazing. Up of course uses similar tactics. It's take on accepting death and taking up for adventure was incredibly well done and the design aspects of Up are the best ever.
Up's visual style is its greatest aspect. Not only is it incredibly colorful and eye pleasing, something lost on Pixar's recent attempts. Wall-E's dullness wasn't bad because it contributed to the world Wall-E lived in, but the world of Up's leading man Carl Fredrickson requires a vision of colorfulness. Even the character design Pixar nails on the head. If their is one thing that Pixar doesn't do, its humans. Aside from The Incredibles, Pixar mostly sticks with cars, toys, fish, rats, robots and monsters, but their zany characters in this film fit the atmosphere. The one thing that is noticeable is Carl's design and the design of his late wife Ellie are conflicting in the right ways. Carl is a restrained and bitter individual without Ellie and thus his character is physically block-ish. His head resembles a square, his fingers are rectangle esc, where as Ellie is round and bouncy and cute, everything Carl isn't. The ying-yang syndrome strikes again for Pixar.
The part of Up that shocked me the most was the emotional attachment I caught myself feeling to Carl during his reminiscing about Ellie I grew incredibly depressed for our hero. At one point I caught myself tearing up for a connection with a character Pixar only spent 15 minutes developing but a whole film furthering. The beginning silent sequence about Carl's life with Ellie is one of the best scenes I've seen this year, and one of Pixar's greatest ever.
The 3D aspect of Up is also incredibly alluring. It wasn't in your face like the recent Monsters Vs. Aliens, and it wasn't formulaic in that sense at all. Half the time I forgot I was wearing the glasses and that it was in 3D, but at the same time I felt part of the movie. It brought me in to the screen in a different way and it makes me think the extra couple of dollars was well worth it.
But the rest of Up is merely good. The young boy scout character Russell was cutesy but I never found myself quite connected to him as I did to Carl. Still he represented a side of Ellie that Carl lacked and from a character development aspect that was incredibly well done. The supporting animals, notably Kevin the bird and Dug the dog were good additions to the rag-tag group, and even the villain (no spoilers here) were good but not amazing. The only part of the film that lost me was how over done the talking-dog bit was. It just wasn't that funny by the end, and I could have done without it.
Up was phenomenal, don't walk away from this thinking otherwise, but when Pixar does such an AMAZING job every time it becomes hard not to nitpick. The only major issue I had was how attached I was with the Carl-Ellie aspect of the film compared to the rest of the movie, which I found to be good by Pixar standards but not great by any stretch (in Non-Pixar standards it WAS amazing though). Up certainly is better than Toy Story or A Bug's Life for me personally but didn't quite touch Ratatouille or Wall-E. Does that mean anything? NO! Go see it and make your own decision, its still phenomenal either way. Grade - A
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