Up

Back in May when I was at the Cannes Film Festival I didn't manage to see Up, Pixar's latest animated feature and their first to be produced in stereoscopic 3D. Of course it was showered with fantastic reviews, and knowing that I would have to wait until October to see it released in the UK (despite the fact it opened a few weeks after the Cannes showing in the US), I was rather annoyed and very worried I wouldn't be able to avoid all the spoilers.

Roll on to October and I had indeed managed to avoid all of the spoilers and went to see the film last night. Now, I am a self-professed Pixar fanboy, and Wall-E is one of my favourite films of all time, but Up really is something special.

Not only was it very mature for a family film, for example  - there were a couple of instances of bloodied wounds (a first for a Pixar film I think?), and the very heart of the story focused on the main character's love and longing for his dead wife and to fulfil their lifelong dream of exploring South America - not to mention the fact that the main character was an elderly man.

I thought Pixar dealt with the issues of life and death in a very mature way which could connect with audiences of all ages - this also applied to all of the comedy; Its nice to see an animated family film where both the kids and the parents can laugh at the same jokes, as opposed to offering slapstick comedy for the kids and wittier jokes and film references only adults would get (something Dreamworks is rather fond of, actually).

Of course, one of the film's main selling points was its 3D. The new wave of 3D is something I am very much NOT sold on, having recently seen Coraline and being left wanting more (much more, in fact), I had dismissed the latest 3D wave as as much of a gimmick as its previous incarnations, but was curious to see how Pixar would use the technology. They didn't disappoint.

Although not a life changing experience, the way 3D was used in Up really did help to complement the film - with only a couple of instances of something leaping out of the screen. Overall the third dimension was used to enhance subtle depth of field effects and made the characters sink into a beautifully rendered world, as opposed to simply leaping out from it every now and again. Others making 3D films can learn a lot here and I would love to see even one other film use 3D this well.

Overall, Up is simply a charming adventure tale that anyone can enjoy, the 3D only adds more depth (in a very literal sense) to a great story being played out in a beautifully rendered world. Anyone with even a passing interest in animation should really go and see Up, and you really should see it in 3D if you have the chance. Next week I plan on seeing Toy Story 3D, it'll be interesting to  see if Pixar has been able to adapt it into a 3D experience anywhere near as exciting as Up.