Up

***SPOILER ALERT***
"Up" is the latest animated feature from Pixar. With its combination of adventure storyline, sympathetic characters and animation in eye-popping Digital 3D that floats the viewer to heights that would make even an expert skydiver dizzy, this tenth Pixar film is easily their best work to date.

While the visuals of octogenarian Carl's house floating through the clouds are stunning, the most shocking and effective moment takes place on terra firma. Carl hits a construction worker over the head causing him to... bleed. While blood is no stranger to anime, I'm almost certain "Up" represents Pixar's first use of it. It's an effective device that immediately raises the stakes and informs us that there is actual jeopardy ahead. When the bitter and evil adventurer Muntz hints at the many "trespassers" he has killed in the past, we really worry for Carl's life.

"Up" is nearly perfect. If there is any nitpicking to be done, the visual pun of dogs flying planes in a, um, dogfight, is a misstep. It seems like something that probably came up in a story meeting and got a big laugh in the room, guaranteeing its inclusion. But dogs flying planes seems somehow beneath "Up," (if you'll now pardon my pun) especially for a film more sophisticated than your average animated feature. Secondly, the joke of Beta's Alvin & the Chipmunks voice went a little too long.