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Metascore
88 out of 100

Universal acclaim - based on 37 Critics

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 34 out of 37
  2. Mixed: 3 out of 37
  3. Negative: 0 out of 37
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  1. The Hollywood Reporter
    Reviewed by: Michael Rechtshaffen
    100
    Winsome, touching and arguably the funniest Pixar effort ever, the gorgeously rendered, high-flying adventure is a tidy 90-minute distillation of all the signature touches that came before it.
  2. Rolling Stone
    Reviewed by: Peter Travers
    100
    Up is a breathtaking ride into the realm of pure imagination.
  3. Chicago Sun-Times
    Reviewed by: Roger Ebert
    100
    This is another masterwork from Pixar, which is leading the charge in modern animation.
  4. Chicago Tribune
    Reviewed by: Michael Phillips
    100
    Some of the comic inventions are inspired: Muntz has a pack of dogs equipped with electronic voice boxes, which means they're talking dogs, only they speak as if they've learned English from a poorly translated Berlitz guide.
  5. Miami Herald
    Reviewed by: Rene Rodriguez
    100
    Rousing, exhilarating entertainment.
  6. New York Post
    Reviewed by: Lou Lumenick
    100
    An exquisite work of cinematic art that also happens to be the funniest, most touching, most exciting and most entertaining movie released so far this year.
  7. Philadelphia Inquirer
    Reviewed by: Carrie Rickey
    100
    The exhilarating film pays tribute to Buster Keaton's "The Balloonatic" by way of its slapstick, and to Hayao Miyazaki's "Howl's Moving Castle" by way of its watercolor palette and traveling domicile.
  8. TV Guide
    Reviewed by: Perry Seibert
    100
    You get the feeling that, had Pixar been in business 25 years ago, Steven Spielberg might have made this movie for them as a follow-up to "Raiders of the Lost Ark."
  9. USA Today
    Reviewed by: Claudia Puig
    100
    Easily the summer's, and probably the year's, most enchanting movie, Up is a buoyant delight.
  10. Boston Globe
    Reviewed by: Ty Burr
    100
    On the most basic level the new film is pure vaudeville: a loopy flyaway fantasy that's hysterically funny if only to keep the darkness at bay.
  11. Baltimore Sun
    Reviewed by: Michael Sragow
    100
    Everything about Up is an up, in the most visceral and poetic ways.
  12. New Orleans Times-Picayune
    Reviewed by: Mike Scott
    100
    A thoroughly uplifting bit of cinema.
  13. Entertainment Weekly
    Reviewed by: Lisa Schwarzbaum
    100
    A lovely, thoughtful, and yes, uplifting adventure.
  14. Village Voice
    Reviewed by: Robert Wilonsky
    100
    The first 10 minutes of Up are flawless; the final 80 minutes, close enough. (Though, note this: Do not see Up in 3-D. It's inessential to the tale and altogether distracting.)
  15. Los Angeles Times
    Reviewed by: Kenneth Turan
    100
    Rarely has any film, let alone an animated one powered by the logic of dream and fantasy, been able to move so successfully -- and so effortlessly -- through so many different kinds of cinematic territory.
  16. Slate
    Reviewed by: Dana Stevens
    100
    Up is Pixar's most ambitious attempt yet to take animation to higher (and deeper) places than it's been before, and Giacchino's sprightly music keeps the whole thing, impossibly, aloft.
  17. Time
    Reviewed by: Richard Corliss
    100
    Extending the patented Pixar mix of humor and heart, Up is the studio's most deeply emotional and affecting work.
  18. Variety
    Reviewed by: Todd McCarthy
    100
    A captivating odd-couple adventure that becomes funnier and more exciting as it flies along.
  19. Washington Post
    Reviewed by: Ann Hornaday
    100
    The result is a soaring, touching, funny and altogether buoyant movie that lives up to its title in spirit and in form.
  20. New York Magazine (Vulture)
    Reviewed by: David Edelstein
    90
    By all means, see Up in its 3-D incarnation: The cliff drops are vertiginous, and the scores of balloons--bunched into the shape of one giant balloon--are as pluckable as grapes.
  21. L.A. Weekly
    Reviewed by: Scott Foundas
    90
    Up emerges as a gentle hymn to adventure of both the soaring, storybook variety and the smaller, less obvious kind -- the perilous, unpredictable and richly rewarding journey of ordinary, everyday life.
  22. Chicago Reader
    Reviewed by: Andrea Gronvall
    90
    Writer-directors Pete Docter and Bob Peterson present hilarious insights into bird brains and canine psychology and treat thornier human emotions deftly.
  23. Austin Chronicle
    Reviewed by: Marjorie Baumgarten
    89
    We will be comparing Up with classics like "The Wizard of Oz" for years to come.
  24. Premiere
    Reviewed by: Staff (Not credited)
    88
    Each character has their own story, and Pixar never sacrifices their development just for a happy ending.
  25. Portland Oregonian
    Reviewed by: Shawn Levy
    83
    Is Up top-shelf Pixar? No. But is it quality summer movie entertainment? Absolutely. Even when the folks at Pixar aim to keep their feet solidly on the ground, they can't help but soar.
  26. The A.V. Club
    Reviewed by: Tasha Robinson
    83
    Up is challenging, emotionally and narratively, but it trusts viewers to keep up; Pixar has never been interested in talking down to children or their parents.
  27. Christian Science Monitor
    Reviewed by: Peter Rainer
    83
    As a piece of poetic compression, it ranks with the opening of Orson Welles's "The Magnificent Ambersons."
  28. New York Daily News
    Reviewed by: Elizabeth Weitzman
    80
    While their latest achievement can't quite one-up "WALL-E," it offers soaring highs that are bound to enchant viewers of any age.
  29. Empire
    Reviewed by: Ian Freer
    80
    If it had lived up to its golden first five minutes, Up would have been the film of the decade. As it is, it remains the best animated flick of 2009, a funny, moving, beautifully made argument that dreamers can move mountains.
  30. The New Yorker
    Reviewed by: David Denby
    80
    The movie is packed with lovely jokes, some of them funny in inexplicable ways.
  31. San Francisco Chronicle
    Reviewed by: Mick LaSalle
    75
    Has some great movie moments but also boring stretches.
  32. ReelViews
    Reviewed by: James Berardinelli
    75
    Up is not as transcendent as last year's "WALL-E," and doesn't rank near the top of Pixar's pantheon of great features, but it's a solid (and in some ways innovative) fantasy adventure that mixes comedy, action, and drama into a satisfying whole.
  33. The Globe and Mail (Toronto)
    Reviewed by: Kate Taylor
    75
    Disney has historically peopled cartoons aimed at children with violent, gruesomely animated villains. For all its delicious whimsy, Up is no exception.
  34. The New York Times
    Reviewed by: Manohla Dargis
    70
    Passages of glorious imagination are invariably matched by stock characters and banal story choices.
  35. Film Threat
    Reviewed by: Matthew Sorrento
    50
    After a strong takeoff, the film lands on dead grounds.
  36. Salon.com
    Reviewed by: Stephanie Zacharek
    50
    Save for a few inspired canine gags and a handful of very pretty visual details, Up left me cold. Its charms appear to have been applied with surgical precision; by the end, I felt expertly sutured, but not much else.
  37. Wall Street Journal
    Reviewed by: Joe Morgenstern
    50
    I'm still left, though, with an unshakable sense of Up being rushed and sketchy, a collection of lovely storyboards that coalesced incompletely or not at all.
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User Reviews

All reviews »
User Score
8.9 out of 10

Universal acclaim- based on 522 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 218 out of 237
  2. Mixed: 11 out of 237
  3. Negative: 8 out of 237
  1. grandpajoe6191
    9
    Animation giant Pixar walks into 2009 with their new animation "Up". The movie is so organized and amazing, all I could suggest to you is to just shut up and watch the movie.… Full Review »
  2. BryanK.
    10
    After viewing this film, I found it very well made. It was dark, even by the standards of a mainstream childrens film. It has a serious storyline which deals with a wife unable to bear children and a man who sees his home as if his wife's soul remains there each day. There were comical moments throughout the film which were done well including a sequence in which a dog which speaks through a collar to other dogs speaks in a funny voice, which when fixed sounds like an evil scientist from a 1930's serial. The final thirty minutes are not only action filled, but comical and heartwarming. The characters were well-designed with unique characteristics which added to the enjoyment and allowed for the people viewing the film to connect with the characters. Very-well made film and one of the best Disney films of the first decade of the 21st century...… Full Review »
  3. CarolynS.
    3
    Perhaps if I had had a seven year old with me, I could have watched HIM enjoy UP The DOGS were nice, however.
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