A Word on Onward

It's well-known that Pixar makes great movies that aren't just for kids. Still, you know that if you go to see a Pixar movie in a theater any time in the first, say, three weeks, there are going to be a ton of kids in there with you. How that may impact your viewing experience can be a real throw of the dice. So my husband and I long ago fell into a habit of waiting for at least a few weeks before going out to to see a Pixar movie. Any "kids' movie," really.

We were in that waiting period for their latest movie, Onward, when Everything Changed. Movie theaters closed, the film's box office run was cut short, and it was quickly released to streaming. It will undoubtedly be one of Pixar's biggest flops financially. But it is a better movie than that. If I were to say it falls somewhere in the middle of Pixar's catalog, that says far more about the strength of their movies overall than it does about any serious shortcomings of this one.

Onward centers on two elf brothers, Ian and Barley, in a society of modern technology and forgotten magic. When they discover a spell left behind by their late father that can bring him back for a single day, they embark on a quest to secure the item they need to cast it. Meanwhile, their mother Laurel learns her boys are in more danger than they realize, and takes off after them on an adventure of her own, teaming up with a "retired" manticore.

The movie is anchored by strong vocal performances from the main cast. Tom Holland plays Ian and Chris Pratt plays Barley, and the two have a strong rapport with one another -- even though one imagines all the dialogue was recorded separately, as is traditional with animation. It's basically typecasting to position Holland as the intrepid try-hard and Pratt as the lovable oaf, but it serves the movie well. Julia Louis-Dreyfus plays Laurel; the movie isn't constructed in a way that maximizes her comedic talents -- though she and Octavia Spencer, as "Corey" the manticore, do make for a fun "odd couple." Still, Louis-Dreyfus does get to play a less shallow, more caring character than she usually portrays, and does well with that.

And the movie does have a lot of heart. Pixar movies are known for this too, of course. Usually, the drama and laughter are folded together a bit more skillfully than it is here; Onward tends to lead more with the comedy and then gradually gives way to more serious stuff as it reaches the final act. Still, the heart is there, and it does make an impact. The movie has some nice things to say about fixating so hard on a dream that you miss things that are right in front of you. There's nothing as deeply moving as famous sequences from Up or the Toy Story films or Finding Nemo, but anyone with a fond sibling relationship will probably get a little dry-eyed at the devotion of these two brothers.

It's good that the movie is both funny and does have something deeper to say, because the setting itself isn't one of Pixar's most original creations. The world presented here is, in theory, inspired by fantasy, but a whole lot of it feels similar to Disney's Zootopia: it's our world, but with creatures! Nor is there any obvious new animation ground being broken here, no "look at how realistic the fur is!" or "how did they make the water?" This too probably speaks more of Pixar as a whole than about this movie; the bar is too high, the quality too consistently great, for anything but the most eye-popping visual innovations to register as novel.

Yet I hope I don't sound too down on Onward, because I really did enjoy it. Indeed, I think it's the studio's strongest effort (amid a series of good-but-not-great sequels) since Coco. I imagine there's no danger that people "won't find" the movie, but still, I hope they do. I give it a B+.