Probably one of Pixar's best.

Rating: 10/10 (27 April 2013)

If you were to pitch this story to a major film studio you'd have asphalt burns on your butt from when you hit the pavement: a boy meets a girl who shares her spirit of adventure, but adventure takes a back seat as life takes over and then unfulfilled he ends up lonely and old living in a house. Facing eviction he ties millions of balloons to his house so that he can fly to Peru. Russell, an earnest boy scout, accidentally follows him on his quest to find his dead wife's dream but then, together, they make new ones...
First things first. This is Pixar. The animation is wonderful. The art direction is sublime. The attention to detail is simply jaw dropping. It is a film that Blueray was designed for. I saw it in the cinema the first time and that really is the way to see this film.
The plot (as I have ineptly tried to summarize above) is fiendishly clever and you know where it is going but it doesn't matter. Some elements of the storyline are never fully explained and it is for you to work them out and I liked that. They're not rocket science, but it's nice not to be spoon fed.
The voice acting is wonderful and special mention should go to Edward Asner (who plays the lead) and Bob Peterson (who plays Doug). They bring the characters alive in a way that animation cannot.
The thing that sets this film apart is the subtext. Dream fulfillment. Regret. Grief. Anthropomorphisation. Adventure. Progress. I could go on. There is so much in this film it is amazing. This, however, makes it sound like a film for adults only but that is not true. My kids (4 & 6) adored it and laughed throughout, cowered at the exciting bits and shed a tear or two here and there.
Talking of tears the first 15mins of this film are brutal. Heart strings pulled, plucked and finally snapped. Makes Bambi look like a romcom...