The reviews are consistently positive, with praise clustering around the near-silent opening montage of a shared life. Critics admire its compression of love, disappointment and passing time, and the emotional weight it gives the adventure that follows. The animation’s colour and detail also draw approval, alongside the humour, believable characters and unusual focus on an elderly hero. Most critics find that Up makes room for adult sadness without losing the fun of a family adventure.
The differences concern how well the rest of the film sustains that opening. Empire finds that it falls slightly short of the early promise, while Eye for Film identifies meandering passages and occasional mawkishness, though it still values the handling of age and loss. Variety, by contrast, sees the adventure becoming funnier and more exciting as it proceeds. The spread is chiefly one of enthusiasm rather than fundamental disagreement.
R
Radio Times
★★★★★ · Alan Jones
100
The film is hailed as a Pixar masterwork that is funny, thrilling, startling and moving by turns. The near-silent prelude charting a married life is singled out as wonderfully poignant, with the story balancing adult emotion and kid-friendly adventure.
The critic calls it a wonderful film and another masterwork from Pixar, praising its believable characters including cranky old men as heroes and a poetic wordless sequence depicting a lifelong romance.
The critic deems it a blissfully profound work, Pixar’s finest since Monsters, Inc., that explores human relationships, disappointment, and hope through visual poetry and emotional risk. They single out the near-silent opening montage for its sentimental yet bittersweet evocation of a lifelong love affair and deferred dreams.
The critic highlights the film's poetic opening love story and its blend of emotional depth with adventurous thrills, comparing it favorably to classic cinema while noting it falls slightly short of its opening's promise but remains the best animated film of 2009.
Up is called a marvel of storytelling and 3D imagery that will enchant audiences worldwide and endure as a family favourite. The rich emotional content, painterly visuals and strong connection to viewers are highlighted as making it a highpoint of the Pixar canon.
The critic calls it one of Pixar's best, praising the touching, funny story of a curmudgeonly widower and a boy scout on a balloon-powered adventure filled with inventive chases. The memorable characters and themes of fulfillment and nature stand out.
12 May 2009 · festival review · Michael Rechtshaffen
90*
The critic calls it winsome, touching, and arguably the funniest Pixar effort ever, a gorgeously rendered high-flying adventure that distills the studio's signature touches. They single out the nongimmicky incorporation of 3-D and the film's fond homage to cinema's past.
The review praises the film's creative flight and flawlessly realized love story, highlighting the wordless montage compressing the couple's life together as filmmaking at its purest.
The review highlights the film's conquest of time through an exquisite early montage of the protagonist's life and its quiet, imaginative triumphs in storytelling and emotion.
The critic notes the film's affectionate tribute to daydreaming and adventure, commending the wordless montage of the couple's life and its graceful handling of hopes and disappointments.
The critic praises Pixar for reaffirming its status as a leader in animation that blends real-world ideas with fantasy and fun. The melancholy, wordless prologue tracing the hero's life from boyhood to old age stands out for its emotional power.
The review finds it a captivating odd-couple adventure that becomes funnier and more exciting, praising its narrative imagination, surprise, and poignant balance of dreams deferred and fulfilled.
Pixar delivers a sweet, sentimental and moving family film with real heart that tops even Wall-E. The critic singles out the film's emotional opening sequence and balance of laughs with genuine feeling.
The critic praises the powerful opening sequence that nearly brings viewers to tears without dialogue, and the film's adventurous storytelling, visual details, score, and avoidance of cheap jokes.
The critic calls Up thoroughly enjoyable with masterful storytelling in its opening montage that pulls on heartstrings. The main praise is for the emotional depth, visuals, and performances, especially the unlikely friendship at its core.
Up is an uplifting and inspiring Pixar adventure that mixes sadness and joy with patented charm and a wonderfully adventurous heart. The critic singles out the emotional introductory montage and the buoyant, life-affirming story.
The critic praises the film as a beautifully tender and mature visual feast enhanced by 3D, packed with laugh-out-loud humour and heartfelt moments. The main praise goes to the stunning animation and genuine adventure elements.
The critic finds Up meandering and somewhat mawkish at times but notes its vivid colours conceal shaded nuance and emotional weight. Praise centres on the affecting opening montage and the unusual focus on old age and loss.
Ordered by the weight we give each publication, then by score. Scores are normalised to 100; * means inferred from an unrated review. Summaries are ours, not quotations; follow the links for the reviews themselves. How we rate
