Up Movie Review

Overview

The elderly Mr. Frederickson is done with the world. His wife died, taking everything he had ever cared about it away from him. All he wants to be is left alone. He wants that annoying Wilderness Explorer (Basically a Boy Scout) to quit asking if he needs help. He wants the construction workers to leave him alone, so much that he smacks one over the head and knocks him out. Because of this he is declared unstable and sent to a retirement home, but he's not going. Using a bunch of balloons, he floats his house away on the breeze. There's only one problem. That Wilderness Explorer happened to be on his porch. 

Negative

There are moments of peril that might scare younger viewers. One scene has the characters being shot at by a shotgun on top of a dirigible. Another scene has fighter planes trying to shoot their flying house down, and repeatedly they dangle very high up from a rope. They are attacked by some vicious dogs as well as a gigantic bird, who turns out to be friendly. Also, Mr. Frederickson basically brains someone with his cane. Russel, the young wilderness explorer, implies that his father left him and his mother to marry someone else called Phyllis, but it's subtle enough that younger kids won't understand or question or it. The characters cross their heart about five times. One character plunges from a flying dirigible.

Positive

Mr. Frederickson is grieving over the death of his wife, especially because he never did what he promised he would do with her, take her to Paradise Falls, which is why he takes off in a flying house in the first place. He eventually comes to realize that adventures like that don't really matter. His wife's real adventure was with him. The real adventures are family, which causes Mr. Frederickson to stop being cynical and to start caring about Russel, becoming his father figure, and the others around him. Russel is a good role model for kids, constantly trying to help Mr. Frederickson and others, even when they don't reciprocate. 

Conclusion

Up is a fantastic tale for young kids. They'll love the bad guy's army of talking dogs and the antics of Kevin the Bird and Matt the Dog. Of course, throw in a flying house and you'd have gotten their attention already. But laced within the fun is a deeper meaning that will be easy for older viewers to latch onto and enjoy throughout the movie. It's a fun movie, with hidden meanings, which is awesome and gets a 👍 from me. As for you, check it out yourself and tell me what you thought in the comments below!