UP

By tying thousands of balloons to his home, 78-year-old Carl Fredricksen sets out to fulfil his lifelong dream to see the wilds of South America. Right after lifting off, however, he learns he isn't alone on his journey, since Russell, a wilderness explorer 70 years his junior, has inadvertently become a stowaway on the trip.

The opening act of 'UP', which develops into a montage of a young boy growing up on high adventure, then marring his children hood sweetheart, is arguably the most personal and touching piece of film ever produced by Pixar.

The first twenty minutes is at first a heart warming, then heart breaking opening act, highlighting everything the studio have done well in its fifteen years.

'Up's characters are sadly your generic Pixar characters, which although are charming, a change of dynamic for the centre characters would have been nice.

There are still a number of great original moments to enjoy as with most of the studios films. The taking off of the house sequence is both impressive and breathtaking. Another highlight are the introduction of the talking dogs, which we discover once we arrive in South America, these dogs have voice activated speakers. An inspiring idea, and a very funny add to the story.

There are also a number of great action set pieces, a cave escape and a final airship battle, including an ariel dog fight, are brilliantly realised.

'Up' is not the masterpiece some critics are calling it, and not the masterpiece that many people expect from fans of pixar. The film is also not Pixar's best film made, the toy story's still hold that title to date.

Still the film is inventive, charming and although allot of the wonder of the opening section of the film falls by the way side, once the house reaches if destination and we go to automatic Pixar story telling mode, Pixar must be one of the only film companies out there that just don't make dud films. Bravo.