Up

“For every laugh, there should be a tear.”

The filmmakers behind Pixar’s newest film seemed to keep the words of the late Walt Disney in mind. Director Pete Docter (Monsters, Inc.) may have concocted some of the studio’s wilder story concepts, but his films have had the most emotional impact on me. I’ll admit that the first ten minutes or so of Up made me cry.

We meet Carl Fredricksen (Ed Asner) as a little boy who’s itching to go on an adventure. He idolizes Charles Muntz (Christopher Plummer), an Indiana Jones type hero who embarks on a trip to South America. Carl strikes up a friendship with Ellie, a boisterous young girl who shares his idol and passions.

The pair falls in love, gets married, and grows old together. The couple talks about going on an adventure like Muntz someday, but real life gets in the way. Their story felt true, their love story sweet. I grew to care a lot about them in a short time, which made it pretty tough when Ellie dies.

Carl now lives alone in a small house amidst towering buildings. A construction company tries to evict Carl from his home so they can bulldoze his home. After a few unfortunate events, Carl is deemed unfit to live alone and is going to be escorted to a retirement home.

He decides to escape, ties a ludicrous number of balloons to his house, and floats away to finally explore South America in honor of his late wife. However, Carl discovers a stowaway wilderness explorer, eight year old Russell (Jordan Nagai), on board. From there the unlikely pair find themselves in a series of unusual adventures in a foreign landscape.

Up is by far Pixar’s most cartoony effort, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing. There are a lot of staples of the kid’s movie here, especially the goofy talking animals. However, I will say that those characters, Dug the dog (Bob Peterson, writer and co-director) in particular, are quite funny. While this is nothing new for the genre, it’s actually new for Pixar. Also, what gets the characters from point A to point B doesn’t come as organically as it has in past Pixar films.

But at its heart, Up is a very sweet, emotional film. The film vies to make you appreciate everyday moments, and basically to not put all your eggs in one basket. And most importantly, it makes you care about its characters. And seeing them come to the end of their journey is fun and fulfilling.

You’re guaranteed at least one great movie a year when there’s a Pixar release coming up.

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Star Trek

I’m a casual Star Trek fan. I’m much more familiar with The Next Generation than The Original Series. But I still had high expectations for this film. This series has over 40 years of history behind it and a lot of detail oriented fans. It would have been easy to screw up this film. But J.J. Abrams’s version of Gene Roddenberry’s beloved series gets it just right. Star Trek should appeal to the Trekkies and win over new audiences.

The reboot does a good job of upholding the Star Trek canon. The events in this film take place in an alternate timeline to the one in TOS. And this is referenced subtly by Leonard Nimoy, the original Mr. Spock. Starting over in another timeline gives the writers room to play and respect the Trek history while not adhering to it.

Moments of nostalgia and nerd bliss abound. The red-suited guy in the away team bites the dust. The classic lines are there. “Live long and prosper.” “Damn it, Jim!” “I’m giving her all she’s got!” They all feel organic. Spock tells Sulu to turn off the inertial dampers. I’m geeking out.

Chris Pine is an excellent James T. Kirk. He doesn’t merely impersonate William Shatner, but he makes Kirk his own. Karl Urban absolutely nails Dr. McCoy. The attitude and expressions are all there. The only letdown is how Spock (Zachary Quinto) is handled, but that’s more at fault with the writers than the actor.

Without giving too much away, Spock’s arc in the film interestingly parallels the Spock from TOS. We’re set up for a different kind of Spock in the inevitable sequels, and I’m not sure I like it. And while it’s actually kind of clever, they’ve made Spock way too pouty. If he lived in our time he’d shop exclusively at Hot Topic.

New audiences are going to be lured in by all the badass action. Opening and closing spaceship battles bookend the film, and we’re treated with plenty of action set pieces strewn in-between. The most exciting scene is when Kirk and Sulu (John Cho) fight Romulans on a drill miles above the surface of Vulcan. It feels like they’re actually cheating death and not just playing around in front of a green screen.

Part of this danger is instilled by the ruthless villains, the Romulans. They cause irreconcilable, catastrophic damage that further drives this away from established Trek-lore. I was literally shocked in one instance, and had to take a minute to sort it all out. The scale of this film is massive, in story and visuals. This is the biggest budget ever for a Trek film and the images are incredible to look at.

Unfortunately, this reiteration of the sci-fi franchise skimps on Trek’s usual philosophy and ideals and throws in a couple clichéd, summer blockbuster-esq thoughts to nibble on instead. This was disappointing.

Nit picks aside, this film is a hell of a lot of fun. Abrams gives the Star Trek series a much-needed kick in the pants. Trek is fun again. Go see it right now. And if you’re not a Trekkie now, you just might become one.

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