Last year, I sat in the theater for a screening of Disney and Pixar's Wall-E. I found it to be the best animated feature film I'd ever seen. It had all the similar features of an animated film: beautiful cinematography, comedic (and at just the right moments dramatic) characters, and great music. But Wall-E contains features that we had not seen in animated films - but more of that later.
I enjoyed Up, I did, but I found it less than original. Up is certainly no Wall-E. However, almost every review for the film praises it as much as Wall-E, giving them the film the same "grade" and similar praise. Up does not deserve the same amount of praise.
Dear Lisa over at Entertainment Weekly states that Up contains "breathtaking" features: the comedy, the animation, the balloons. She then goes further to say that the movie's great accomplishment is that the audience is not meant to see these features; that the audience is meant to focus more on what the characters are going through. Isn't this what every Pixar film seeks to accomplish? In Wall-E, we are carried through the beginning with no dialogue, focusing on Wall-E's lonely, hardworking personality. In Toy Story we view the interactions between each character and devote our time to the conflict between Buzz and Woody. Lisa, your statement is just as unoriginal as Up.
Ebert also lends a four-star review for the film, lending one unoriginal compliment after another.
It begins with a romance as sweet and lovely as any I can recall in feature animation.There. Even he states the movie's unoriginality; the story is just the same as others animated features! So why does Up deserve such praise? This statement sums up (pun intended) the film completely: there isn't anything truly original about it. There are funny animals, there are talking animals, there's a dramatic, touching plot weaved in with comedy. So what.
Kenneth Turan's review at NPR stated one of Up's achievement is tackling "one of Hollywood's taboos: old people" by having the main character a lonely old man who - as the reviewer states - carries a walker. But, how can this film tackle that taboo by also supplying this "old man" the strength to carry his home across a large plateau, literally running from talking dogs and birds? Don't tell me that this film is tackling a taboo; they're exaggerating the character to child-like form to make it less taboo.
Perhaps my review is biased; I am constantly thinking of Wall-E, which achieved an extremely high dose of originality: politically, the film tackled an incredibly important issue in the current world, forecasting the destruction of Earth and mankind. As an animated feature, the film used live-action in small doses to expose the issues expressed in the film, making the audience more attached and intertwined in the story. And, of course, providing an almost silent film with even more expressive emotion and story. Wall-E, it seems, will always be Pixar's greatest achievement, whereas Up tries to fly too high.
Boo, Taylor. I think being an RTF major made you a cynical movie-goer. :P
ReplyDeleteYAY YAY TAY TAY! I laughed out loud when I saw the title of your blog :) So you. I didn't know you had one!
ReplyDeleteShanks for your words of encouragement, you precious sweet angel you. I'll update you as soon as I hear more about this debacle.
I agree with your review of Up and think you made some great points! I still loved the movie, although I HATE that I wept like four times. Good lord.
Have you ever considered being a movie critic? I feel like I've asked you this like 40 times. Whatever, don't judge me, Lizzie. Don't you DARE judge me! (Pride and Prejudice)
MISS YOU!!
I really, really liked UP and I could not even sit through 15 minutes of Wall-E.
ReplyDeleteThat's my comment!
I understand your negativity towards Up, when it comes to it being unoriginal, I feel you are giving far too much praise to Wall-E. While I appreciate Wall-E's unique usage of relatively little to no dialogue, the film as a whole was lacking. Wall-E himself lacked any significant character development, resorting to the rather tired cliche of being the love struck boy willing to do whatever it takes to get the girl of his dreams, no matter the obstacle standing in his way. While Wall-E could have achieved its mark as being a timeless tale of love, it ultimately fell far short, as the film's plot veered into a heavy handed environmental message, that serves only as a great distraction from the film's hero. But getting back to Up, I think the film had great variety, balancing both kid friendly fare and something every adult can understand about love, loss, and a life well lived.
ReplyDeletethere should be a but before I feel in the first sentence btw
ReplyDeleteIn regard to Wall-E, he did have character development. He went from a lonely, work-only machine to a caring, more free-spirited being. His goal, as we saw from his love of "Hello, Dolly!" had a goal of acquiring love, a companion. And he accomplished this goal while saving mankind.
ReplyDeleteI argue against your view of its "heavy handed" environmental message. I felt that the use of live-action with the President created a connection to the audience; a connection to the real world, and thus, made the message more apparent and realistic, while also having the degree of exaggeration when we arrived (MUCH later in the film) at the ship with the very obese human beings.
A realistic connection? Wall-E's entire world is far from that. I felt a sheer lack of connection as it not only made all of humanity downright negative, even with the end result of complete 180 degree reversal. At no time did I ever come to view Pixar's depiction of our supposed future reality to be anything but a "heavy handed" attempt to shove down our throats the ideas of conservation and environmentalism plaguing our current society. Surely it wouldn't have hurt Pixar to at least have displayed a more fair and balanced approach as opposed to the disrespectful, ignorant, caricature shown instead. BTW, while Wall-E did go from being alone to seeking love from Eve, he always had, as represented by his relationship with the cockroach and various stored artifacts. Eve in fact was just the culmination of who he was, but he never in fact changed. Instead he was a static character who was nothing more than a love struck robot.
ReplyDeleteI believe the the live-action provided a realistic connection. I also believed the dosage of environmental messages was appropriate, but alas, opinions will differ.
ReplyDelete