Up Review: Unexpectedly Awesome
Once again, I’m back with another review and another reason to proclaim my love for Pixar. I can honestly say that if Up wasn’t a Pixar creation, I wouldn’t have been excited to see it. Even though the commercials and trailers featured some great comedy moments and showcased the great characters, a movie about a traveling septuagenarian, on its own, just doesn’t sound that appealing to someone who likes comics and books with spaceships on the covers.
I am grateful, however, that Pixar did release this movie because without that motivating force, I would have missed out on a truly fantastic story. It’s hard to accept that a movie with a 78-year-old protagonist moved and entertained me just as much as, if not more than, any other Pixar movie I’ve seen. Including Wall-E. I kid you not.
The Queue: Triple Threat Match
The Queue posts have built up quite the…bottleneck, so I thought I’d catch up by giving you a three-for-one deal.
Bolt
If someone told you that Disney was going to make a new animated film without the help of Pixar, wouldn’t you think that it would be a 2D animated feature, possibly about a princess? You might, and you’d be wrong. While Disney and Pixar were separated, but on speaking terms, Disney didn’t want to lose precious time in the theater and thus Bolt was created. While I have nothing against so-called 3D animation, I get somewhat discouraged when John Lasseter and company aren’t involved. There are some surprises (Kung Fu Panda), but mostly the movies are disappointments (Shrek, Antz, etc).
Bolt is about a canine actor that has spent his entire life on a television set. Because of this, he doesn’t know that he’s not really a super-powered dog that continuously saves the world from an evil, cat-loving mastermind. When he manages to get free after a particularly realistic-looking capture of his owner, Penny, not only does he have to find his way back to her, but he has to come to terms with the fact that his entire life hasn’t been what he thought it was. Along for the ride are a stray cat, Mittens, and an energetic hamster named Rhino.
Overall, this movie falls into that middle-of-the-pack realm. It’s not terrible, but there’s not enough high-quality content to bring you back for additional watches.
What To Add It For: The Animation.
For what it’s worth, the character designs and animation are fairly well done. I wouldn’t say it’s Pixar good, but there are some impressive moments.
What To Remove It For: The Voice Acting.
John Travolta and Miley Cyrus, really? I can understand Miley, but what the hell is Travolta doing in this movie? His lines are so labored that I picture him sitting on a couch with a snifter of Brandy, stroking his greasy hair. Or, just reading the script over cell phone.
Rating: 2/5