Yup. Here’s some more.
My wife and I were both choked up during the first 20 m., which are among the best I’ve seen in any move.
I liked it, but didn’t love it. The best bits were the random throwaway gags (dogs playing poker, Kevin “hiding” behind a rock).
I really did like their use of color to depict moods and feelings. And one of the best things for a movie freak like me is that the topography of Paradise Falls is exactly like that of The Lost World as described by Arthur Conan Doyle, and as depicted in Willis O’Brien’s 1925 silent version of The Lost World – only in brilliant color. (Of course, a lot is drawn from that – the flat-topped plateaus in the South American rainforest, the early 20th century explorer going there, the giant Lost Creature that they tantalize you with the thought of being a dinosaur, but is revealed as a bird.
Actually, the biggest problem is that the ads gave away too many things that ought to have been a surprise. These include
–The fact that there’s a giant bird (the introductory scene, with the Kid and the chocolate, suggests a much smaller bird; and, as I note above, when you first see the skeleton it has no skull, and might be some kind of dinosaur)
The Talking Dogs 9and especially the “squirrel” line)
– The re-appearance of Muntz
It was good, but would have been better without the ads giving it all away.
The biggest crime of the commercials is showing the kid as a big part of the story. The knock on the door after the house is aloft would have been brilliant if we didn’t already know who it was.
I liked it but have one thing I’m dying to complain about, but don’t know who to say it to that might do any good. Our theatre only had “one size fits all” 3D glasses. I don’t know if that’s normal or not, but my poor little three year old couldn’t keep them on her face. So she watched it without. To give her credit, she never complained about the “blurry parts”.
I saw this last night - at a non-3D matinee price of $6.
My boyfriend can’t see 3D, and who knows if I’d have had a headache like some of you guys are reporting, so I’m sort of glad we didn’t see 3D. Plus, I found it enjoyable regardless.
I did cry a LOT in this movie, more than almost any movie I’ve seen. For those of you with kids - how did your kids react to the sadness?
And…did kids get the “she can’t have children” nod at the beginning? I thought that point went by really quickly.
I also laughed harder at the funny bits in this movie more than any other movie. I’m a sucker for dog jokes. I had to cover my mouth to keep from embarrassing myself!
I think the laughing and crying balanced out perfectly.
I’m not a “Pixar whore”…but I was blown away by the animation in this movie. I thought the balloons looked 100% realistic. I also liked the knit fabrics they showed. And while the dogs weren’t 100% realistic I thought the fur texture was out of this world. What are the real animation aficionados saying about the animation in this film?
About the trailers…I agree with cricetus that giving away the boy’s place in the story sucked. I do think, however, that they portrayed Carl as a stereotypical grumpy old coot in the trailers and I was VERY happy to see that the character was much deeper and enjoyable than that. I’m also glad that they showed the talking dog “squirrel” bit in the trailer because it made me want to see the movie!
In summary…I think the story was great, if not a tad bit long with some clunkers. But I think it is a great modern fairy tale.
I was talking about this movie on another board, and this question came up:
Why is the blood on the construction worker so shocking? I don’t think the amount of blood would be shocking in live-action, and we see far worse cartoon violence all the time. But for some reason it really got under my skin, and I think I’m not the only one. Something about the realism, but it’s not quite that simple, since if it had been completely real, I don’t think it would have shocked me as much.
It’s cognitive dissonance. Things are contextual. You don’t expect to see blood in cartoons (except in anime, and then it wouldn’t be disturbing because you expect it). While there is violence in cartoons it’s always bloodless - Coyote gets blown up or falls to a canyon but he shakes it off and keeps going. In G.I.Joe all the vehicles get blown up but everyone jumps out right before the missile hits.
OTOH in some Disney cartoons there is blood. But it seems contextually appropriate.
I guess everything in the film so far gave the impression it would be a different kind of movie.
I guess it’s kind of like how in certain movies there’s a ‘suddenly sex scene’ and it seems shocking even though it’s R rated for other reasons and it’s not like you haven’t seen more explicit stuff everyday on your computer, but it seems out of context with the rest of the movie. But you see something like ShortBus, where they give you a cumshot in the first scene, and everything else that happens in the movie doesn’t seem shocking.
I saw this today and really liked it. Reminded me a lot of Indiana Jones-type in some parts (and Carl’s probably just as old as he is, if not older).
I wonder if giving the villain the name “Charles Muntz” was an intentional nod to Disney history, given as Charles Mintz could be painted as a villain in Disney’s history (and has in at least one Disney TV special). Although the fact that the young Muntz looks a lot like Walt himself makes it a little unusual.
According to Pixar, the pink stuffed bear we can see in a young girl’s room is a character who will appear in Toy Story 3.
Count me in as another one who cried all the way through the movie. I even started getting a little weepy during the cloud short. I love this movie.
The cloud short was lovely.
Just saw this yesterday and I loved it. Yes, the talking dogs thing was a silly convention. Yes, it was a little ridiculous that one moment the house is rising up over the buildings across from Carl’s property, and a minute later it’s “well, here we are- South America!”. Doesn’t matter. It sucked me in and I was hooked. I had tears running down my cheeks in several scenes (the look they managed to render on Ellie’s face when she was grieving in the yard was perfect- just perfect; “I was hiding under the porch because I love you”- I never even owned a dog and it broke my heart), even more so than my wife.
My kids liked it but my wife and I got so much more out of it.
When Carl walked onstage at the end and told Russell “I’m here for you”, I nearly sobbed. I think I have some fatherly love issues.