movies: up

Okay, let's see... Gold Class, 3D and the new Pixar movie, Up... what could be better.

I know, I know, it's a little bit over the top, but I wanted to see it in 3D and there was a Gold Class session starting about half an hour after the regular session, plus I had a couple of Magnum wrappers laying around which entitled us to a free upgrade. So Gold Class it was...

I love Gold Class... I've said it before, and I'll say it again... although I was much more fidgetty this time than I've been in the past... but then I didn't take my shoes off this time around.

We decided that instead of getting dinner and then going to the movie, we might as well combine the two... perhaps not the best option on reflection (not the best pizza ever and it did seem to take much longer for everything to arrive than we specified), but it wasn't so bad.

The short that preceded the movie, Partly Cloudy, wasn't bad... not their best ever, but it was cute, although very subtle as far as the 3D went... but when you're dealing with soft fluffy clouds, how much D do you want.

Following that thought process to it's logical conclusion, in a lot of ways there wasn't a whole hell of a lot of point going to see Up in 3D. It's not an action movie like Bolt was... and even though some of the jungle scenery later on in the movie is really lovely, there really weren't that many "Oh WOW" moments to be had.

It's not really an "Oh WOW" movie actually. For all that it contains a flying house and South American jungle and giant birds, it's this small little story about a man and a boy. And yet again, damn Pixar made me cry.

And I will give Pixar their due... they're not afraid to either take their movies to a dark place or else explore, however briefly, subject matter that I'm sure a lot of people would say isn't appropriate for a "children's movie". But it makes their movies all the more powerful because of that.

As always, I don't want to give away too much of the story, but the opening scene (after a newsreel section that is very reminiscent of The Incredibles) covers pretty much everything you need to know about crotchety old Carl Fredricksen, and why he's the way he is in the trailers. Which is good, because it warms you up to the character and you feel for him.

To be honest, there isn't a whole lot to the story, and it's very similar to a lot of Pixar's other work in that it's essentially a buddy movie. It's sweet though. Not on the level of Finding Nemo perhaps, but it's enjoyable, even if it did make me cry.

yani's rating: 3 Adventure Books out of 5