Onward - Review

Pixar still has the magic

Director: Dan Scanlon

Writer: Dan Scanlon, Justin Headley, Kieth Bunin

Starring: Tom Holland, Chris Pratt, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Octavia Spancer, Lena Waithe, Ali Wong, Tracey Ullman, Jon Ratzenberger

Info: PG 1hr 42min Animated, Adventure Pixar March 6, 2020

Grade: 4 out of 5 Stars

Disney/Pixar

Pixar remains the gold standard for visual style and quality storytelling and have been wowing audiences since 1995 when Toy Story came riding into theaters and changing animated films forever. Toy Story went on to become one of Disney’s most popular franchises, stretching four entries, but Pixar hasn’t been resting on it’s laurels, steadily producing high-quality original intellectual properties and for years. Onward shows that magic is as powerful as ever.

Onward is set in a fantasy world of wizards, dragons, mythical creatures and magic. But a lot of that wonder was lost to history, as technology advanced making magic perceivablly less necessary.

Disney/Pixar

Ian Lightfoot (Tom Holland, Spiderman: Homecoming) is your typical teenage elf, awkward and nervous. He and his overly-involved older brother, Barley (Chris Pratt, Gaurdians of the Galaxy) miss their father, who passed away before Ian was born. Until, on Ian’s birthday, their mom (Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Veep) reveals that their dad left a magic staff and spell to bring him back to life for one day.

Things inevitably go wrong and the staff’s crystal breaks, so Barley sets them on a Dungeons & Dragons style “quest” to fix it so they can meet their dad. With challenges piling up, however, Ian becomes frustrated with Barley’s gung-ho “quest” mentality as thing continue going off the rails. However, Ian ultimately learns a lesson on what it really means to be a family and who his real father is (it’s not as creepy as it sounds).

Onward isn’t the most visually stunning film from the studio (that honor goes to Toy Story 4), but, it will likely be considered among the best looking animated movies of the year. Equally, the story is strong and distinct in it’s premise an execution, mixing humor and heart-warming moments with a style that feels delightfully reassuring in an age of Trolls and Minions (they suck). Don’t be surprised to see this movie again in the animation categories come award season; even though that is almost a year away.