The Palm Beach Post
By Jonathan Tully   |  Children's movies, Comedy, Movies  |  May 28, 2009

Russell and Carl Frederickson explore Paradise Falls in Pixar's 'Up'. (AP)Check out Flick Chick’s Pixar Picks: Her favorite films from the young studio.

Russell and Carl Frederickson explore Paradise Falls in Pixar's 'Up'. (AP)

Earlier this month, I marveled at Star Trek‘s almost universal critical goodwill — at one point, it had a perfect 100-percent Rotten Tomatoes rating, though it has since fallen a bit to 95 percent.

Prepare to be marveled again.

Up, the latest family adventure from Disney’s Pixar, is soaring at 97 percent at RT. Its score at Metacritic is a similar 95.

(In fact, not only are critics saying it’s worth seeing, but they’re adding that it needs to be seen in 3-D. So break out the glasses.)

Many critics say that the strength of Up doesn’t lie as much in the visual — although it’s once again up to Pixar’s incredible standards — but in the storytelling.

• James Berardinelli of Reelviews says Up is an example of a studio growing up with its audience: “A film like Up makes it clear that Pixar has moved beyond the point where it feels the need to pander to children.”

Washington City Paper‘s Tricia Olszewski calls Up a “perfect outing at the movies”: “Considering the marvels Pixar has already given us year after year, that’s a stunning achievement.”

• James Rocchi of Redbox says it’s a great story about real people: “What makes Up soar head and shoulders above its peers is how it ultimately shows us Carl (the main character) trying to leave the world for the better.”

(It seems almost shocking that someone would hate this movie, but New York Press‘ Armond White does — his review comes out almost angrily against Pixar and its movies and calls it overbearing and cute. “All this deflated cinema and Pixarism mischaracterizes what good animation can be, as in Coraline, Monster House, Chicken Little, Teacher’s Pet, The Iron Giant.” Proof that you truly can’t please everyone.)

(As an aside, I saw Star Trek recently — while I certainly enjoyed the film and what J.J. Abrams did with the franchise, I can’t say I’d consider it one of this year’s best films, given what I think a year’s best kind of movie should be. It’s great fun, but I found myself comparing characters rather than really paying attention to what almost was a too-convoluted plot. Still, Abrams did a good job of resetting things for what will be an inevitable slew of sequels.)

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