Edd Watches Pixar: Up Review

I’m a grown man who hasn’t seen most of the Pixar movies that people are obsessed with, but I was challenged to check ’em all out and share my thoughts. Join me as I watch ’em all one by one – see if I buy into the hype.

Movie No. 10: Up (2009)

OK, let’s get out of the way right now.

NO, I DIDN’T CRY.

Now I’d be lying if my throat didn’t get all kinds of tight during Up’s first 10 minutes. Either I have a heart after all or that Rona finally caught up to me.

But again, that intro. Failed pregnancies? Redevelopment pushing seniors out of their neighborhoods? Heartbreakingly sad death of a spouse?

Isn’t this supposed to be a kid’s movie? How, Sway!?

Of course, this movie isn’t just about the crippling void left by the death of a loved one, it’s also about child abduction! Seriously, why don’t the Pixar parents ever get worried when their children vanish for days or weeks at a time? Only Nemo’s dad seems to fear child protective services.

If you’ve ever wanted to see a day in the life of Mr. Edward and his mentees, just watch Mr. Fredricksen interact with his hyperactive stowaway here. Mr. Fredricksen becoming the kid’s father figure at the end of the movie, finding new purpose and a new family after literally letting his beloved house go was a superkick to the ol’ emotions.

Excuse me, the Rona lump is back in my throat again.

Anything involving Mr. Fredricksen was grumpy gold, from his constant putdowns to the final geriatric battle of bad backs. I can relate, my joints sound like pouring milk over Cocoa Krispies.

By the way, can someone explain the physics behind a flying house that a senior citizen can drag around a continent with only a garden hose? The house was held by balloons, it shouldn’t BECOME a balloon.

Also did The Weeknd name his House of Balloons mixtape after this movie? The man had a broccoli haircut for years, he doesn’t put a lot of thought into his life choices.

I gotta say, though, this is a pretty tough movie to rank. I loved the emotionally draining opening and the emotionally uplifting finale but the actual plot of the movie – where they fly a house to South America to fight a bird poacher and his army of talking dogs … um, what? This is the first movie where I dozed off a bit while watching – I woke up and dude was flying a Final Fantasy airship and I was super confused. I really am Mr. Fredricksen. But at the same time, this was lowkey one of the funniest movies so far. Mr. Fredricksen and Russell had a hilarious Dennis the Menace/Mr. Wilson vibe that was magic.

Overall, this was a great watch but a little uneven compared to the top-tier Pixar films so far. 4 stars out of 5

Edd’s favorites:
The Incredibles
Monster’s Inc
Ratatouille
WALL-E
Finding Nemo
**Up**
A Bug’s Life
Toy Story
Toy Story 2
Cars

Next time is Toy Story 3, the movie I’m told has the stuff that I imagined was in Toy Story 1. So maybe I’ve seen it before or maybe I haven’t. Or maybe I just pulled a Mr. Fredricksen and slept through that one too.