The Spirit of Adventure

SPOILER ALERT: Do not read if you haven't seen the movie UP yet...

This movie was absolutely amazing. I have been wanting to write about it since I got out of the theatre on Friday. It was the perfect combination of mature undertones combined with hilarious jokes that continued to capture both my heart and laughter throughout every scene.

Within the first five minutes, I was immediately emotionally attached to the characters and even filled with a sudden sadness with two characters that I was just introduced to. Even though you could argue that it was a bit cliche to have two children meet and fall in love and then grow old together, there was a certain sense of sincerity and honesty that I felt as you saw Carl and Ellie grow old together. Perhaps it is the thought or dream of falling in love and growing old with someone that drew me in so much, but the continued happiness amongst the hardship they presented was so touching.

The humor was neither over the top nor cheap. I appreciated that the humor they presented did not have to rely on toilet humor or on exploiting absolutely ridiculous antics in order to make people laugh. I liked that they used simple jokes like the high pitched voice or the squirrel jokes just enough for people to remember but not enough for people to get tired of. They did not have to rely on solely one joke or one character to get the audience to laugh, the characters just seemed to naturally present the jokes as the story progressed.

But most of all, I appreciated the overall message of the movie. I think often times many things in our lives, like entertainment, lack any sort of positive message or meaning. Although I do appreciate mindless humor here and there, I believe that overall I appreciate a great story with a positive message. To me, this movie asked whether or not you mindlessly chase goals or dreams to simply get them done or if you continue to preserve the original intentions or meanings behind those goals and dreams. It was a good reminder to seize the dreams or goals while we still can and never to be deferred from taking on new ones when old goals or dreams don't seem to work out. It reminded me to continue to preserve that Spirit of Adventure no matter how young, how old, or maybe even how unlikely we may think we may be.