Up (2009)

Featured Audience Ratings

• John M

  
  A fun and very well uplifting film lol.

• Jay H

  
  Certainly not the greatest thing Pixar has ever done, but "Up" is a fine, fine film nonetheless. Though the first twenty-five or so minutes are absolutely beautiful, when the house went "Up," my interest level went down. I just didn't find the actual intrigue… More
  Certainly not the greatest thing Pixar has ever done, but "Up" is a fine, fine film nonetheless. Though the first twenty-five or so minutes are absolutely beautiful, when the house went "Up," my interest level went down. I just didn't find the actual intrigue of the plot all that fascinating. However, after the climax occurs, the denouement finds once again the beauty the opening part of the film so wonderfully displayed. The Oscar-winning score of the film is also definitely worth a mention. Its captivating refrain is used perfectly in the various situations throughout the film; the music will stay with you for days.

• Candy R

  
  Carl and Ellie are best friends from childhood. They get married and move into a lovely house. The next part is sad. Many years pass after Ellie passes away and Carl is forced out of his home by developers, so he ties thousands of balloons to the house and sets off for Paradise Falls… More
  Carl and Ellie are best friends from childhood. They get married and move into a lovely house. The next part is sad. Many years pass after Ellie passes away and Carl is forced out of his home by developers, so he ties thousands of balloons to the house and sets off for Paradise Falls in South America. There he meets his lifetime hero who is hunting a very rare bird. I love the characters - Russell (boy scout) and Doug (dog). Good plot, although sad in parts, it is funny and an uplifting movie.

• Michael E

  
  Pixar is one of the greatest animation companies of all time, and each of their films have redeeming features about them even if they aren't all that great, but to me, this is the weakest Pixar film. I liked it the first 3 times I saw it, but the more I watch it, the more things… More
  Pixar is one of the greatest animation companies of all time, and each of their films have redeeming features about them even if they aren't all that great, but to me, this is the weakest Pixar film. I liked it the first 3 times I saw it, but the more I watch it, the more things I find that annoy me. Now I have A.D.D. so I have trouble sitting through some movies sometimes, and this film is one of those movies that I get so bored with, and after 20 minutes I put in a different movie. The main gripe I have with the film is that the beginning 15 minutes and the ending are so well done, that the film just goes downhill from there when it ends, another gripe I have is with the dog Dug, now I know everyone who reads this is gonna be like "Oh Dug is cute, Dug is funny." NO!!! He is annoying and not funny at all, he's stupid, and useless in this film, literally there is almost no purpose to him in the plot, aside from being an unfunny comic relief.

• Raymond W

  
  Pixar never seems to fail to captivate audiences with relatable, humorous, and genuine characters, but they manage to once again with Up, an amazingly animated, voice-acted, and well-told adventure. It's exciting, hilarious, touching and heart-warming. The score by Michael… More
  Pixar never seems to fail to captivate audiences with relatable, humorous, and genuine characters, but they manage to once again with Up, an amazingly animated, voice-acted, and well-told adventure. It's exciting, hilarious, touching and heart-warming. The score by Michael Giacchino is one of the best, and is definitely deserving of the Oscar.

• Ken S

  
  It tends to get "very dusty" in the theater in the first five minutes. That is the mark of a true piece of cinematic animation. Don't dare call this a cartoon.

• zach l

  
  Oh Pixar how I love you so. Pixar's Up is an amazing movie, period. Saw the trailer few times before I saw the movie in theaters and didn't know what to expect. This movie is everything you could ask for in an animated film. It's funny, exciting, sad, and adventurous.… More
  Oh Pixar how I love you so. Pixar's Up is an amazing movie, period. Saw the trailer few times before I saw the movie in theaters and didn't know what to expect. This movie is everything you could ask for in an animated film. It's funny, exciting, sad, and adventurous. Up is one of Pixar's finest yet.

• Brad W

  
  Up is a incredible, hilarious, emotional, and beautiful animated film and is one of Pixars best and one of the greatest animated films ever made. The story is about Carl Fredrickson who decides to fly his house to Paradise Falls but a young boy named Russell accidentally stows away… More
  Up is a incredible, hilarious, emotional, and beautiful animated film and is one of Pixars best and one of the greatest animated films ever made. The story is about Carl Fredrickson who decides to fly his house to Paradise Falls but a young boy named Russell accidentally stows away and they are pulled into the adventure of a lifetime. The plot is is too incredible too describe, the start of the film is some of the most beautiful moments in film history, and the characters are so perfect that its like Pixar struck pure gold. The voice acting was great, Ed Asner was a great choice and Christopher Plummer had the perfect evil voice. The score of the film desrved the Oscar, it was so well done and beautiful, and even really intense, easily Pixars best music yet. Up is a perfect example that after 10 films Pixar still knows what they are doing and it is and its hard to explain simply how incredible this movie is.

• Jens S

  
  The latest Pixar film is a surprisingly grown-up adventure. Sure, there is plenty of stuff for the kids: lovable characters, slapstick, colorful images. But the themes of the film about fulfilling your dreams, life long regrets, finding new purpose in life are pretty hard to get for… More
  The latest Pixar film is a surprisingly grown-up adventure. Sure, there is plenty of stuff for the kids: lovable characters, slapstick, colorful images. But the themes of the film about fulfilling your dreams, life long regrets, finding new purpose in life are pretty hard to get for the younger audience. The movie should still please viewers of all ages: it's often heart-warming and melancholic at times, rapid and spectacular at others. It even includes two of the most fun action sequences of the year. Sadly, the (longer) trailer already gave away most of the biggest laughs of the film. There are still plenty of surprises on the adventure and plot front, but to be honest, other Pixar movies were funnier. Still, when Carl is browsing through his late wife's scrap book, the film creates some of the most touching images animated movies have ever brought us.

• Michael M

  
  This film can tell a story much better than Wall-E. Up goes into further emotional depth then any Pixar film to date. It's funny, it's charming and it is a beautiful piece of work that nearly anyone can enjoy.

• Alexander D

  
  Fantastic

• Eric A

  
  Glad to see modern day cartoon movies still have the touch of the oldies. Aside from Toy Story, Up could easily be the best movie.

• Keiko A

  
  Carl Frederickson (Ed Asner) has lived a long life, but dreams of adventuring to South America. He wants to spend his remaining days in his home, but new high-rises are being constructed around it. After a chance accident, Carl loses his home, and is set to be taken into a retirement… More
  Carl Frederickson (Ed Asner) has lived a long life, but dreams of adventuring to South America. He wants to spend his remaining days in his home, but new high-rises are being constructed around it. After a chance accident, Carl loses his home, and is set to be taken into a retirement home. Unhappy with this idea, the former balloon salesman ties thousands of balloons to his house and simply floats away, en route to his dream adventure. Except, he is not alone - young "wilderness explorer" Russell (Jordan Nagai) inadvertently shows up in mid-air, and Carl sees no other choice but to bring the boy with him. The fact that this plot line is even relevant enough to get made into a movie is more than enough reason to praise Up. Ever since Toy Story, Pixar has consistently delivered the most radically original and unique ideas for animated films, and live action films. Sure, not all of them are as amazing as others (Cars is quite simply stale compared to the likes of Ratatouille and WALL-E), but there is something brilliantly imaginative and exciting going on at the studio, and Up is no exception. Coming off the breakthrough of WALL-E, I was not expecting the same reaction to Up, but I was more than just pleasantly surprised. The film is hilarious, heartfelt, moving and depressing all at once. This may sound like it is an issue, and that the film has a problem holding its ground with its tonal structure. But instead, it handles it quite well; splitting the film into quadrants and allowing the themes and plot line to coincide with whatever emotional response the filmmakers are going for. And while there is plenty for young children to enjoy and take from the film, it is the older audience that will get the biggest reaction from it. There is a lot going on in the film, but it never loses its speed and never loses control of what it wants to say and do. It knows exactly where it wants to be and when. And where other recent Pixar films have failed (specifically in their lengthy runtimes and frequent need to drag themselves out), Up does not. It practically blasts its way through its beginning, all the way up to its ending, with time left to spare. What makes Up work so well, much like WALL-E before it, is the focus on very few characters. Where WALL-E spent the majority of its runtime primarily on Earth with its main character, a love interest and a cockroach, Up spends its majority with Carl, Russell, a "bird" named Kevin and a talking dog named Dug (voiced by co-director Bob Peterson). It does allow for more characters to enter in later on, but the focus never strays from these main characters. Some may say the film is trying to tell multiple stories, but as the film progresses, it is clear it is telling one story - the tale of a man who never experienced what he wanted the most. The film builds up Carl's backstory heavily in startlingly moving moments that surprisingly were surprisingly kept rather secretive in the marketing for the film. We know from the very first trailer that Carl is a fairly mean old man, but the film spends a great deal of time to develop him into an emotional wreck of a man. But the real success of the film is in its imagination and adventure. While WALL-E is perhaps the most startlingly unique and original animated picture of the last decade, Up still manages to pack in a lot of uniqueness. But while WALL-E got caught up in its own environmentally sound message, Up sticks with being an almost straight adventure picture. It is frequently thrilling and exciting, and lets up only for a few moments at a time. For such an older character, the film really stuns with some of its fantastical ideas. Sure, it is obvious this is a film that could only ever be done as an animated film, but what it lacks in realism it makes up for in fun - something that has been sorely missing from the movies for years. It came back for a short while with the first Pirates of the Caribbean film, but the focus as of late for any film has been on deeply conflicted, depressing narratives. And while this film is struck with having some of the most depressing scenes the year has seen so far, it never wallows in the sadness. It throws the moments at you, and then quickly moves on. And as said previously, the tonal shifts work excellently in Up's favour. But of course, an animated movie cannot work without its animation. While Up is not a breakthrough in the way other Pixar films have been, it keeps with the tradition of still looking stunning and leading the curve for computer animated films. It does look cartoony and fantastical in many instances, but this only continues to work towards it being even better. The locales are realistic looking; the dog fur is near perfect. For me, watching Carl's facial hair gradually grow in as the story moves along was simply amazing. The little details and minute perfections have always been key to the Pixar films, and Up is no different. Additionally, the 3D effects really add a layer to the film, and bring the movie to life (unlike other recent efforts like Monsters vs. Aliens and Bolt). I cannot praise Up enough. Words cannot do justice for how excellent the film is. Pixar continues to outdo itself year after year, even with their subpar films. While each film has their own flaws, Up revels in being as close to perfect as the company has been in years. I adored every minute, and look forward to watching it again with an even bigger smile on my face.

• Sergio G

  
  Ahhh! This was probably the best Pixar's surprise a couple of years ago. Whata great story. My son love it. No more than Cars, but he love it. Imagination, the sky is the limit.

• Jameson W

  
  For being regarded as one of Pixar's best and being nominated for many Academy Awards, I find this movie to be boring and my least favorite Pixar film. It's good....and I will admit that the first 40 minutes or so were some of the best movie scenes I have seen recently, but… More
  For being regarded as one of Pixar's best and being nominated for many Academy Awards, I find this movie to be boring and my least favorite Pixar film. It's good....and I will admit that the first 40 minutes or so were some of the best movie scenes I have seen recently, but the rest was just bland and boring. I really do not like that much. I feel like since I was bored, a small child would have most definitely been bored. Pixar's only disappointment.

• Martin B

  
  I liked the film... until about the time the balloons went up. Pixar doesn't make a bad film, but <i>Up</i> is one of their weaker ones, in large part because of an area they are usually masters of: characters. The movie starts out well. We meet our main character… More
  I liked the film... until about the time the balloons went up. Pixar doesn't make a bad film, but <i>Up</i> is one of their weaker ones, in large part because of an area they are usually masters of: characters. The movie starts out well. We meet our main character and his wife (Carl & Ellie) and they are very likable. We grow quite attached to them and feel for Carl. But aside from those two, there's not much to like. I didn't like the dogs at all (including Dug), I REALLY didn't like (or care about) the bird and that whole part of the plot, and didn't even really care for the kid (Russell). Actually, one other I <i>did</i> like was Muntz, and I think he kinda got screwed. He wasn't a bad guy, and I would have liked to have seen some redemption for him. <br/><br /> <br/><br />Visually, of course, the film is beautifully done (aside from the ugly square-face design of Carl). Pixar is still the master of the genre. But what has made them so successful is their combination of great visuals AND top-notch stories. Unfortunately, as much as I enjoyed the prologue, the rest of the story this time out is uninteresting and kinda lame. Like <i>Monsters Inc</i> and <i>Cars</i>, I'm sure I'll watch it more in the future because of my kids, but I don't think I'd ever go out of my way to see it again.

• Drake T

  
  Unlikely heroes, unlikely villains, all in all, and incredibly unlikely story that will grab you by the heart and shake it. Throw in the "Pixar magic" of flawless storytelling, humor, characterization and you've got yourself quite the movie.

• Sanjay R

  
  Pixar never fails. Even if you are a stiff as a rock this movie will at least give you goosebumps along with a smile/chuckle. Kudos to whoever created the score.

• Kevin C

  
  The best animated film ever made.

• Eliza N

  
  It's flawless imagination made this firstly too touching and as a result you want to get more always afterwards . I didn't get disappointed but I wasn't excited as at the begging .Colors matched to perfection and an adventure completely different from whatever we have… More
  It's flawless imagination made this firstly too touching and as a result you want to get more always afterwards . I didn't get disappointed but I wasn't excited as at the begging .Colors matched to perfection and an adventure completely different from whatever we have seen before.

Read all 20 featured audience ratings