A colorful delight.

Rating: 7/10 (16 April 2010)

My favorite Pixar movies are the ones who have (in my opinion) the very best characters. Monsters, Inc., Toy Story, Finding Nemo, The Incredibles, etc. My least favorites are the few that have the most uninteresting characters, like Cars. Not to say that Cars is a bad movie, but it didn't leave a memorable impression on me like those other movies did. Up fits somewhere in-between those two categories. It has some great characters, they just don't happen to be the main ones.
I'll just come out and admit it - I thought Russell was an annoying little brat. Carl was a likable enough protagonist, but Russell really hurt the movie, for me. Kevin and Dug, on the other hand, are a big part of why I still ended up liking the movie a good bit. They're some of the most flat-out hilarious characters that Pixar has ever made. Most of the comedy in Up involves one of those two animals, in some way.
This is a beautiful movie, no one can deny that. It's so bright, vivid and colorful, that anyone who's watching it on DVD or an SDTV is really missing out. Up is basically a commercial for running out to get a shiny new HDTV and a Blu-Ray player. This movie is an absolute visual and technical marvel, and it's also a good family film. Pixar's record of quality remains spotless.