Up

5 stars

Up floats above all expectations.

Rating: G
Stars: Edward Asner, Christopher Plummer, Jordan Nagai, Bob Peterson

What's the story?
Carl Fredricksen (Asner) is a 78-year-old balloon salesman who embarks on a great adventure in his floating house to find the fabled Paradise Falls. On the way, he finds a young stowaway scout member (Nagai) who is eager to help the old man, a dog (Peterson) that can mysteriously speak and his old idol (Plummer), in his quest to find the mythical falls.

Why see it?
Up is both whimsical and hilarious in its tale of finding what truly makes you happy. It handles the unbelievable story of a floating house with a finesse and charm that will make even the most hard-lined movie realist crack a smile. The voice acting in this film is amazing, from Carl's grumpy mumblings to the hilariously simple remarks coming from his canine companion. The actors really went all-in for this one, providing hilarious one-liners and thoughtful monologues with grace unlike in many other films I have seen lately. Above everything, however, the film is worth it just to see the legions of talking dogs give funny dog-oriented insight into the events of the film.

Why skip it?
People who cannot bear silliness in movies should avoid this film. The plot is breezy and rarely takes itself seriously, making jokes at every opportunity - but in my opinion, it works.

All in all:
Pixar surpasses even last year's superb Wall-E with this animated comedy.