Occasionally, she does a round of the street and casts us out one by one, which is effortful and very time-consuming.

NEWYORKER: Magda Mandela

There's also an evocation of "Fitzcarraldo, " as Carl and Russell tug the house through the jungle toward the falls -- a rather bland and barely effortful evocation, since the house still hovers above them -- and the reappearance of the adventurer Charles Muntz, who is far from the inspirational figure Carl and Ellie once found him to be.

WSJ: Pixar's 'Up' Fails to Soar | Video