Up (3D)

Stars: Voices: Ed Asner, Christopher Plummer, Jordan Nagai, Delroy Lindo, John Ratzenberger, Bob Peterson, Elie Docter

Director: Pete Docter, Bob Peterson

A jolly 3D adventure from the Pixar people, with a surprisingly watchable elderly hero (not sure about his dragging that house around, though) and his even more ancient adversary. 3D effects - apart from dog-piloted aircraft zooming into the screen - are unobtrusive and the film would be just as entertaining in a 'flat' ratio.

Once a kid with a taste for adventure who married a girl who dreamed of going to South America's Paradise Falls, Frederickson (Asner) is now a cantankerous old widower whose beloved home stands in the centre of a building site - as a result of his being the last holdout against developers.

After being ordered out following a confrontation with authority, Frederickson ties a thousand balloons to his house and floats away into the sky, taking with him a tubby Junior Scout, Russell (Nagai), who neded a 'care for the elderly' badge to become a senior.

Naturally, they land not over the rainbow, but in South America, where Russell befriends a brightly-coloured giant bird and, dragging the house behind them, they ultimately encounter explorer Hurtz (Plummer), the old man's boyhood idol, but now a madman with a zeppelin and a army of dogs, who seems to have overtaken Frederickson in age and covets - you guessed it - the giant bird. Kids of all ages will enjoy it.

David Quinlan

USA 2009. UK Distributor: Walt Disney. Colour by deluxe/Technicolor.
96 minutes. Not widescreen. UK certificate: U.

Guidance ratings (out of 3): Sex/nudity 0, Violence/Horror 0, Drugs 0, Swearing 0.

Review date: 05 Oct 2009