Apparently, "Up!" speaks to its audience of children and their parents. Most According to Entertainment Weekly, most of the movie reviews thought the movie was "cute" "superb" "sensational" "an A+" and so on.
On the other extreme, one particular person who reviewed the movie opposed it. Greg says:
"This movie SUCKS and needs to go DOWN DOWN! Star Trek is by far the best movie of the summer so far. Screw UP!!! Quit wasting your dough on this one...."
One parent did give a negotiable/oppositional review after discussing it with her son. It appears that she initially liked the movie, but then changed her mind. jtiii wrote:
"SPOILER!! Try to keep an open mind on this. Can you name another Disney or Pixar "kid" movie where a human character attempts to murder a human child? When Muntz ties Russell to a chair, puts him on the ramp, and walks out, as far as he's concerned, after he closes the door, that child is dead. Any jury would convict him of attempted murder. I think this went over many adults' heads, inc. mine, but not my son's. He didn't "know" as we do that there's no chance Pixar would kill the child."
Personally, I saw the movie with my students and thought it was just cute. I was impressed with the depth of one of my student's take on the movie. She was sad about the death of Ellie, but thought that Carl's determination to keep his promise to Ellie was touching and wonderful. I was so impressed by this child's reflection. Maybe this movie evokes insights from kids that adults miss.
Perhaps you are riht, and it does. But, I still think, that, although it is not good critical form, Up truly does suck. Several reviewers mentioned that it is far from being a great film, but the special effects make it bearable. I'm not sure banal is really a strong praise word.
ReplyDeleteI really liked you piece on the bus ride, but that may be because I was a bus driver for 25 years. When I drove the lines out of Taunton for Brander Bus, I often had retarded passengers. One in particular comes to mind. He would ride with me nearly every Saturday, from Taunton to Plymouth, where he visited friends. sometimes some of his friends came with him. Donald had been put in the Dever school, because his parents didn't want him. After 25+ in an institutionalised environment, he had become retarded. He was still able to take the bus and work, though. I recall one of his happiest moments was when he was reunited with his brother, and when his brother named his son ofter him. Donald beamed.
: ) I loved the kids understand what adults don't. How often does that happen?
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