Onward
/“Long ago, the world was full of wonder. It was adventurous. It was exciting. And most of all, there was magic.”
Filmology Rating: 3.25 out of 4
Onward is the latest Pixar film that seeks to jerk every tear from your soul. The voice acting is led by Chris Pratt, Tom Holland, Julia Louis-Dreyfus and Octavia Spencer.
When Ian (Holland) finally turns sixteen, his mother hands down a gift from Ian and Barley's (Pratt) deceased father, which happens to be a wizard's staff. Ian and Barley go on a brotherly quest to find a jewel that will bring back their deceased father for one just day.
Director, Dan Scanion, said he pulled from his own life to pour his heart into this project, and boy has he.
This animated pastiche of 'The Lord of the Rings' and 'Indiana Jones' is set in this fantastical world where magic and wonder has been replaced with the ease of technology and other things in life we all take for granted.
And the film itself is very self-reflective of film/society itself today in that the wonder and awe in film is rarely present anymore. Long gone are the days of a Steven Spielberg tear-jerker or something just makes you stop and have a look of wonder as if you were seven years-old again. However, 'Onward' has done just that.
Very similar to that of 'The Lord of the Rings' or 'Indiana Jones', this film is not about the destination, but rather the journey and what you discover about yourself on said journey. The character of Ian finds that out through hardships of his own as he searches for what he lost, instead of looking beside himself at what he already has.
The script itself is that of the highest-tier when it comes to Pixar. Near the end, there is pay-off after pay-off, bows on bows, and it all comes together very neatly.
The ending, I might add, is one of the least-cynical and whole-hearted experiences I have had in several years. Every ounce of cynicism was drained from me. The last fifteen minutes or so was mostly holding back tears.
It's also a film about what courage can do to those around you. Ian goes on this quest and discovers that he is more capable than he lets himself believe, as shown in a scene involving a rope. And it's this very tight script that allows multiple things to be communicated on different levels of the film.
The score is also something to highlight because it's the very first thing you hear and it is very mystical and adventurous. Later on, the score also reflects a Morricone tone as if these two brothers were gunslingers walking together along the endless desert.
I had almost zero interest in seeing this film, but the film completely spun me around. I always say, a good children's film is just not meant for kids, but rather to bring the kid out of you.
I found the film to be superb and is easily one of Pixar's best. It's an emotionally resonating film that takes the wallpaper of the hero's journey and adds its own touch to it.
Rating: See It
-Nolan
It seems like only a few short months ago that we had all discovered the greatness which can be found in a spork, thanks to Toy Story 4. Pixar usually gives us something that we never knew we needed in our lives, it’s a brilliance that no other film studio has been able to capture. So it seems odd that a film which deals with magic in our world, it would also give us a movie that simply lacks the emotional magic that most of us crave from Pixar films.
Ian Lightfoot, voiced by Tom Holland, dreams of nothing more than getting to know his father. The issue with this is that his father passed away before he was born. Ian only has the memories from his mother, voiced by Julia Louis-Dreyfus, and his older brother Barley, voiced by Chris Pratt, to know anything about his father. However on Ian’s sixteenth birthday he is given a gift that will bring his father back for just one day. Ian and Barley have to go on a quest to gather the equipment to complete the spell to bring their father back.
It should go without saying that the animation on display in the film is spectacular. I would be more shocked if the animation in a Pixar film was subpar; but credit still must be given to the creative genius at Pixar who keeps making us believe in the imaginative and spectacular. Simply being able to see the animation on display is reason enough to see Onward on the biggest screen possible.
The story sadly drags a little during the quest portion of the film. Since the quest should be the highlight, I was rather bewildered by the fact that it didn’t hit all the right beats for me. Most of the jokes were on target as long as you hadn’t seen the trailers for the film a million times, and the dynamic between Chris Pratt and Tom Holland was working; but the film still felt flat. It’s frustrating that I cannot put my finger on the direct aspect of the film that doesn’t seem to work for me, but the only thing that I can think of is that the film feels emotionally hollow until the climax. The last twenty minutes of the film work like gangbusters and should melt anyone's frozen heart, but I wish the film would have kicked into high gear earlier than that.
Even some of the characters seem like a one thought premise. I don’t need to have an elaborate Game of Thrones type of storylines and arcs for the characters, but having more than five minutes with them would be nice. The biggest character whom I feel is given a disservice by this film is Colt Bronco, voiced by Mel Rodriguez. The character quickly goes from being a foil to Ian and Barley to then being a supportive figure? You actually never figure out where this character stands which makes it frustrating when he supposedly has an epiphany about his life. While children will laugh at the joke, I found it to be questionable on a character level. This is most likely another case of me expecting too much from a “children's film” but this is what I typically expect from Pixar films.
I cannot imagine how personal this film must be to director Dan Scanlon, who was also one of three on the writing team. Onward feels like such a personal film that I felt awkward leaving the theatre not more on an emotional wavelength with the film. The story that the writing team, Dan Scanlon, Keith Bunin, and Jason Headley, creates is personal and emotional making me feel most people will leave the theatre remembering the highlights of the film rather than the film in its entirety. Of course there's something deeply emotional about seeing a family figure that you never thought you would be able to see. I think most people have that one person in their life that they would like to spend one more day with. I just feel the concept stopped at that emotional note causing the film not to work for me. Fans of Dungeons and Dragons will have a blast with this film, but since I have never played, many of the in-jokes just flew right over my head. I could tell that I was supposed to laugh and find enjoyment, but it never clicked with me.
The best story aspect of this film seems to be an afterthought, which is sad to see since it's the story beat that opens the film. Magic is gone in the world because everyone has become complacent with their lives, they expect everything to be easy and will sacrifice their own humanity to get things that come at an easier cost. The only reason that I can believe this plot line was dropped was because it was also done in Wall-e, but it still seems like a message that everyone needs to hear. At times the things in life that are the most difficult offer the most rewarding aspects of life.
Lesser Pixar is still great for most other film studios. I would never call Onward a bad film, just maybe a slight disappointment. It feels odd to call a film a disappointment just because I didn’t leave the theatre bawling my eyes out but that is what I expect from Pixar lately. When looking at some of their past films, Toy Story 4 and Coco in particular I left the theatre feeling like I had my emotions taken out of me and put through a blender before the credits had rolled. I look for films that teach us about the human experience and while I was able to get some of that while watching Onward, it felt like more of an emotional afterthought than being the forefront of the film. Once again if this was any other studio I would be championing this film from the rooftops, but with Pixar I expect a subtle more adventurous take on the human experience.
Rating: See It
-Jonny G