I was extremely lucky to get hold a ticket for the premiere of ‘Up‘ on Sunday evening and I have one of the most enjoyable evenings in ages.

Admittedly, I’m not a huge fan of animated movies but I absolutely loved Up.

While at times I did wonder if some of the story elements were a little too grown-up for the mainly booster-seated audience, it’s a really gorgeous little movie that will have you leaving the cinema with a smile in your heart and probably one on your face too.

The basics

Meet Carl & Ellie, childhood friends and “adventure enthusiasts” who grow up and spend the rest of their lives together. After Ellie passes away, Carl decides to satisfy a long-held pipe dream of his darling Ellie – to move to Paradise Falls in South America. And so the tale unfolds of how Carl and his young scout recruit Russel move house (literally) to South America and the adventures and characters they meet along the way.

• It’s visually stunning – it is Pixar after all and while living up to their usual high standard and the 3D adds a nice gloss overall
• It’s moving – although Ellie the “living” character is only on screen for minutes, she is a huge presence for the rest of the movie – suffice to say I shed a tear or two!
• It’s entertaining – at heart, it’s an adventure movie and there’s plenty of gasps & laughs all the way
• It’s positive – you would have to be made of stone not to leave the movie happy and smiling.

It was actually so good I’m finding it hard to get that across so check out what others have said on Culch.ie and Movies.ie

Up is on general release from 16 Oct 2009, check your local cinema for preview dates. The official site has some lovely images & snippets here.