"UP!" and at 'em.

Pixar continues its glory days run with "UP!" A story about a lonely widower (with a fleghmy growl just like Lou Grant's) doesn't really scream commercial potential but Pixar has the traction to take a whack idea and stick to it. One glaring thing about "UP!" is the utter lack of license-ready intellectual property templates. The Nickelodeon set isn't going to be clammoring for cuddly Ed Asner dolls and in this day and age, that's a pretty bold concept for an animation studio, almost unheard of in a business that relies on gimcrackery for a sizable portion of revenue.

Like its predesescor "Wall-E", "UP!" is at its best when it lets the pictures do the talking. A silent backstory set-piece in the first half outshines the rest of the film. This is a fairly straightforward outing for Pixar. Despite its eclectic premise, the bulk of the story is a pretty standard journey tale. Pretty and well-executed as it is, "UP!" seems a bit more story-oriented than the last few Pixar joints without a lot of technically impressive razzle-dazzle. The short that precedes it "Partly Cloudy" has anthropomorphic clouds that seems designed to show-off some neat technical tricks and is quite enjoyable.

And as for the 3D aspect, don't ask me. I "opted out" and chose the plain 'ol 2D experience (on celluloid.) But unlike certain parts of "Coraline" nothing in "UP!" seemed like it was designed or optimized (or forced) for 3D maximization. No pokey screen thrusts or jabbing fingers. And that suits me just fine. Apologies to James Cameron, but I think we all know that the current 3D revival is a bit of a wash-out artistically. Maybe it helps sell some tickets but it adds ZERO to the movie experience. Zero.