( CNN ) -- For a little while , it looks like `` Up , '' Pixar 's 10th feature-length film , is going to be a downer . In `` Up , '' a curmudgeonly senior citizen , Carl , tries to cope with the enthusiasm of Russell , a young boy . Not that there 's anything wrong with an animated film tugging at our tear ducts . But you can sense unease rippling through the younger halves of the family audience when , about five minutes into a spunky prologue , intrepid pre-pubescents Carl and Ellie abruptly morph into newlyweds , and then not-so-newlyweds . They gray and stoop before our eyes , youthful dreams of exploration traded in for the comforts of home and domestic bliss . Ellie wants a baby but ca n't have one . Their savings for the holiday of a lifetime are eaten up by this rainy day , that domestic disaster , until there 's no more lifetime left -- not for Ellie , anyway . That leaves us with Carl , a grumpy homebody voiced by Ed Asner , who makes WALL-E look like a chatterbox . And he 's one of the main characters . No , I did n't hear anyone demanding when the dancing penguins were going to show up , but I 'll wager someone was thinking it . Watch a preview of `` Up '' » . Such misgivings are ill-founded . As far as razzmatazz goes , `` Up '' delivers the goods . Not penguins , precisely , but more than the airborne house promised by the commercials . There 's a mythical multicolored bird , which may or may not be a snipe , but which answers to the name of Kevin and exhibits a sweet taste for candy bars . There are zeppelins and old-time explorers and talking dogs -- a whole pack of dogs , in fact . Dogs that serve wine and play cards and fly biplanes . And there 's Russell , a chubby Boy Scout -- or `` Wilderness Explorer '' -- who turns up on Carl 's doorstep when he least expects it . After all , Carl wants to be free , and to get there , he launches his house into the sky thanks to thousands of balloons . How was he to know Russell was around ? `` Up '' does n't always fly high . The dogs ' canine high jinks are closer to `` Beverly Hills Chihuahua '' than we 'd expect from Pixar , which tends not to play so fast and loose with the laws of nature for the sake of a few cheap laughs . But if the muttering mutts keep the kids happy , well and good . The movie is on surer ground teasing out the relationship between Carl and Russell , floating well above the Earth . Russell is all wide-eyed innocence and boundless enthusiasm , haplessly helpful . He 's the mirror image of the child Carl used to be , if only the old man were capable of recognizing it . But instead of looking around him , Carl is focused on landing that prize home of his in the prime location he mistakes for his ultimate destination ( the lost world of Paradise Falls ) . The image of Carl valiantly dragging his house through jungle and over mountains will strike a chord with anyone holding down a mortgage . iReport.com : Share your review of `` Up '' Written by Bob Petersen and directed by Petersen and Pete Docter -- both Pixar veterans -- `` Up '' mixes allegory with adventure and dumb imaginative exuberance . The balance is n't quite as tight as in Pixar 's best movies , but the lightness is appealing , and Russell ( voiced by Jordan Nagai ) is an irresistible character . He 's already carrying his own emotional baggage at 8 years old , but he 's all heart , the kind to give kids a good name . Screening in 3-D where possible , `` Up '' does n't go overboard on stereoscopic gimmickry , but does exploit depth of field in a string of exhilarating cliffhangers and dogfights . Funny and poignant and full of life , `` Up '' easily qualifies as one of the best movies of the year so far . Go with someone you care about . `` Up '' is rated PG and runs 96 minutes . For Entertainment Weekly 's review , click here .
CNN.com 's Tom Charity : ` ` Up '' is another winner from Pixar . Film about the life of an old man and a young woman ... and a talking dog . There are some unlikely characters , but depth and humor always shine through .