UP

[tealin]

One of the many perks of working at Disney is advance screenings of Pixar films!

I was going to wait until a more general release but the movie is rapidly slipping from my mind so I thought I should write this down before it was gone completely...

No spoilers, but it might influence your viewing:
Okay, I'm sure this is going to be a big hit and everyone's going to love it – consensus after the screening I went to was generally positive, as far as I could gather, and that was from fairly critical people. But it didn't do much for me. There isn't really anything I can point to to say why, but it just felt mildly diverting for an hour and a half, and then it was over. Despite persistently tearing up whenever anything had to do with Ellie, I was never really invested in it, an odd paradox I still can't explain. Overall there were a lot of good ideas but they were either not thought through or not incorporated/utilized to the extent they could have been ... I have been so spoiled on Pratchett. Again, the characters had exactly enough development to service the plot, but if I were given a writing assignment with them I wouldn't know where to go, past 'grumpy old man,' 'enthusiastic but naive boy,' and 'bitter villain.' There were little logic gaps and continuity problems that probably wouldn't have bugged me if the movie had been more fun, but in failing to sweep me up it left me to think too much. There were a number of things that I wouldn't have had trouble believing if the world had been set up as more fantastic in the first place, but which really bothered me the way it was. I keep wanting to compare it to Laputa/Castle in the Sky on that regard but I don't really know how to pin it down. It felt to me as though a lot of the gags were cheap and/or overwrought, and there was so much talking (though the talking may have been more annoying than usual because the speakers in the theatre were turned up so loud). Then, finally, the movie realized it was an adventure movie and it was FUN for a little bit without having to stop and explain everything, but that inevitably ended and we were back to ... being cute. The whole thing just seemed to kind of lack focus and drive, and everything was so deliberately spoonfed to me that I don't feel like I'd get anything out of watching it again (except maybe to jot down specific grievances).

The animation was spectacular, though. I think my favourite thing about it was how the bird looked and moved and felt like a bird; it wasn't anthropomorphised at all. It used bird body language, even keeping that bird-like blind stare in its eyes, but was still perfectly intelligible. The dogs were very doggy too, even though I wasn't too crazy about their rigging at first. Humans were great, of course, though they seem to be getting into a bit of a rut with female character designs and the way they do mouths. They're great mouths, don't get me wrong, but it might not hurt to explore different ways of doing things. You're Pixar, that's practically your job. Art direction was much of a muchness, very pastelly and ... tame ... there were a couple neat shots but generally it felt ... very ... Pixar. The 3D was probably the best 3D I've seen in a CG movie (not that I've seen much); it wasn't in-your-face (I forgot it was in 3D after a while) but it made for some nice atmospheric flying shots tinged with panic at being up so high.

The fact it was rated PG came up in Frog dailies one day, which led to amusing speculation on what contents of our movie could get us a PG. The official word is that Up is rated PG for 'some peril and action' (meaning, basically, 'stuff happens'). It didn't feel any more dangerous than, say, Finding Nemo, which somehow got a G despite sharks, exploding sea mines, near-death-by-jellyfish, child endangerment, and a score by Thomas Newman. Perhaps this is because there were humans involved? My cynical theory is that Up actually got tipped over into PG because there is BLOOD in it. Just a little bit, but it is definitely blood. The ratings board doesn't like the blood.

Having said all that and possibly lowered your expectations, you will now enjoy the movie even more! You're welcome.

Comments

[moonmystique.livejournal.com]

It's interesting to get a good observational point of view on movies like this. Usually when I watched movies that look really gorgeous I tend to lose focus on the story and just get sucked into the pretty. Unless there are things that bother me to no end.

[wizardelfgirl.livejournal.com]

I'm with you on this. While I enjoyed Up when doing the translation and all there was something that simply didn't sit with me, but I can't pinpoint exactly what it is. I think it might have something to do with the bonding between Carl and Russell, though I can't say anything yet without spoiling, so that will be for another day.

Still I do want to see it if only to watch it finished and in full colour (the version I get is in b/w and not fully finished). It took me a minute to remember where the blood is seen because I never see the redness of it so it didn't make an impression in me. I don't get why it would be rated PG though. I mean, The Lion King was rated G and it had DEATH and BLOOD. But then those were different times, I guess.

[auraesque.livejournal.com]

Does Lion King have blood? I thought the only other animated Disney movie to be rated PG was the Black Cauldron, and it was because the hero's lip bleeds after he is chased down by a monster.

[twirlynoodle.livejournal.com]

Atlantis was PG! But no one remembers Atlantis ... (probably for a reason ...)

[danicarip.livejournal.com]

Atlantis was intense, man! All those ships full of people getting blown up and self-sacrifice and all. But I still have soft spot in my heart for Atlantis because after seeing it at the age of eight, all stories I wrote for years afterwards included glowing crystals and Amazons :)

[auraesque.livejournal.com]

Aww, I liked Atlantis. It reminded me of Stargate, only with giant sea monsters instead of Egyptian gods.

[azvolrien.livejournal.com]

Atlantis is rated U over here, I think. That's pretty much the equivalent of a G.

However, Watership Down is also a U when it really, really should be a PG, so I don't really understand the thought process at all.

[super-pleb.livejournal.com]

Yeah, Watership Down has tons of blood (well not literally but you know what I mean) in it and is damn scary...

[twirlynoodle.livejournal.com]

I was raised on it! :D (the book anyway, I only saw the movie a couple times)

[azvolrien.livejournal.com]

Blood frothing out of the mouth, no less.

[ultra-taboo.livejournal.com]

i thought the character designs in atlantis were all top notch, but everything else was just so ... serious

[moonmystique.livejournal.com]

Beauty and the Beast has stabbing! and blood.

[phonixa.livejournal.com]

Tarzan had dead parents in the corner! and was also PG.

[moonmystique.livejournal.com]

:O

[auraesque.livejournal.com]

NM, you are correct. Beauty and the Beast also has blood in the Platinum edition, according to various online sources.

[wizardelfgirl.livejournal.com]

Ohh, that's right, and the stabbing scene and the death of the Beast are quite disturbing in a way. Yet it was rated G too, I think.

I guess rating parameters have changed over the years. You see attempted murder in Aladdin, actual murder in Beauty and the Beast and Lion King, a cleric feeling aroused in Hunchback of Notre Dame... And they're all G.

[twirlynoodle.livejournal.com]

I'm pretty sure the ratings board has a checklist, and doesn't go by what a movie 'feels' like – really that's the only way The Dark Knight could have gotten away with a PG13 rather than an R, as they were very careful about the profanity and the absence of blood. Cruel horrible sadistic violence yes, but no blood!

There's no question there's been a bit of inflation in the ratings market; there's no way most of the G movies in the past would get rated G now. But Disney movies have never been as innocuous as everyone thinks they are ... anyone who thinks they're simply sugar and spice and everything nice has clearly not watched one lately.

And Frollo was A JUDGE. He acts all pious, but unlike in the book, he is a judicial official in the Disney movie, not a clergyman. They come right out and say it frequently, Judge Frollo, 'I am an elected official,' etc. Just because he is obsessed with his own virtue and struggles with lust doesn't mean he's a priest. Really, nobody seems to have picked up on this in thirteen (?!?) years; it makes me doubt my belief that you don't have to bash the audience on the head with the bleeding obvious all the time ...

[twirlynoodle.livejournal.com]

Where is the blood in Lion King? It's been so long ... I know Mufasa gets trampled to death despite miraculously not turning into a bloody pulp so it can't be there ... But again, it might be an animal blood/human blood thing, because Finding Nemo also had blood in it.

[wizardelfgirl.livejournal.com]

When the hyenas are chasing the cubs and they almost get Nala, Simba scratches one of them (I don't remember which, maybe Shenzi?) and the scratches leave blood. Of course, they miraculously heal by the next scene, so maybe they don't count.

Now that I trhink of it, Disney has a history of miracle-healing. Tarzan's scratches from the leopard disappear by the time he goes to investigate the gunshot he hears, less than a minute after killing the beast.

[twirlynoodle.livejournal.com]

Ohhh, the scratches. Gotcha. But they don't drip ... I suspect red lines don't count as much as actual liquid blood running.

Injuries are such a bother for continuity... ;)

[(Anonymous)]

The Incredibles had no blood but it got PG rating didn't it?

[twirlynoodle.livejournal.com]

Didn't it have blood? A bloody nose or something ... well, regardless, it had WAY more peril and action than Up.

[wizardelfgirl.livejournal.com]

I think the PG rating came more from the slight torture scene (when Syndrome electrocutes Mr. Incredible) and maybe also the suicide guy.

[cornedbee.livejournal.com]

Finding Nemo has blood, actually. During the shark scene, someone (can't remember who) gets a nosebleed, which drives Bruce crazy. You can see the blood drifting in the water.

Perhaps nosebleeds don't count?

[linda-lupos.livejournal.com]

Dory! When she and Marlin are fighting over the diving goggles and the snap of the elastic makes it hit her in the face. :)

[twirlynoodle.livejournal.com]

This is true, but:
1. Animal blood, again
2. The fish don't have noses, nor is there any visible wound from which the blood is, well, bleeding. It's just >poof< magic blood! We know what happened because it's pretty clearly implied and anthropomorphise the fish enough that we can apply human experience to their actions, but ratings appear to be designated by Auditors who are absolutely incapable of reading between the lines.

[noodledaddy.livejournal.com]

Or, in the case of Mufasa and Simba, reading between the lions.

[danicarip.livejournal.com]

I remember that show :D http://pbskids.org/lions/

[aspectabund.livejournal.com]

You, sir, ought to be ashamed of yourself.

[(Anonymous)]

Yeah, I cried every Ellie scenes too but I didn't find myself caring too much over Russel and Carl. I think the problem is the movie's waaaaay too rushed to fit the backstory, the adventure and the ending. It should have been split into two or three movies imho so we can see Carl properly be happy with Ellie, grieve, get over Ellie slowly through his adventures, and of course, get to know Russel better.

I'm a little angry over howthis movie ended up being actually.