Up

(update of a previous post - original is here)



Data
Title: Up
Year: 2009
Length: 96 minutes
Directors: Pete Docter & Bob Peterson
Writers: Bob Peterson & Pete Docter, story by Peterson, Docter & Thomas McCarthy
Starring: Edward Asner, Christopher Plummer, Jordan Nagai
Music: Michael Giacchino
Distinctions: Oscars for Best Animated Feature and Best Score; Oscar nominations for Best Picture, Best Original Screenplay and Best Sound Editing; currently #65 on IMDb's Top 250 [edit: down to #71, 1/9/2010]

My reaction
Synopsis: an old man uses balloons to fly his dead wife’s dream house to South America
How I saw it: in the theater, June 2009; on video (have on DVD), yesterday [edit: watched again, 1/9/2010]
Concept: Great.
Story: Good. It would have been much better if it didn't transform into an action movie.
Characters: Great. The whole talking dogs thing (there are dogs, and they can talk) seems out of place, and the three dog villains are lame/undeveloped. But the main characters are wonderful.
Dialog: Great.
Pacing: Great.
Cinematography: Great.
Special effects/design: Great.
Acting: Great.
Music: Great.
Subjective Rating: 9/10 (One of my favorites). I liked Wall-E better, but then I’m a science fiction geek so I guess that’s to be expected. When I first saw this, I said I'd be surprised if it wasn't my favorite movie this year.  With a lot of movies still left to see, it's only a close third - pretty good, considering.
Objective Rating: 10/10 3.9/4 4.0/4 (Great).