DO YOU BELIEVE IN MAGIC? // A FILM REVIEW OF "ONWARD"
Pixar's latest dive into the imagination of youngand old alike is the first film of theirs to gross less than $100 million at the box office. Not that it's the fault of the film; it had the unfortunate timing of opening right before the COVID-19 crisis went into full effect, shuttering all movie theatres and non-essential businesses around the world. So Disney/Pixar announced that it was going digitally, both to rent, buy, and now to stream on Disney+. This, of course, lead to a world full of cheers, sine all of the world is under lockdown, learning new social distancing tactics. Now is the time where families have ALL the time in the world to watch movies, check out new TV shows and although ONWARD had unfortunate theatrical timing, the release to digital and streaming was perfect and very welcomed indeed.
The story sets up in another land, a mystical land of magic, unicorns, and fairies. However, the prologue tells us that magic was very hard to learn, so the world embraced technology instead, forgetting magic altogether and instead headed towards cars, buses, and everyday life that we know, or at least used to know. Our main elf characters are Ian (voiced by Tom Holland), turning 16 today and desperately wanting to fit in at school. He's an ordinary kid with an ordinary, but loving, life. His single mother (Julia Louis-Dreyfus) is loving and attentive, but does date someone her sons don't approve of. Speaking of that, Ian's big brother is Barley (Chris Pratt), a very uncool, board game, magic loving guy who sort of embarrasses Ian daily.
For Ian's birthday, their mother reveals that their late father, who died when Ian was very young, left behind a present for both of them, to be opened when they were both at least 16. The present is a magical staff, and with it is a homemade spell from their father, letting them know that magic is indeed real and by following the spell's instructions, they'll be able to bring their Dad back for 24-hours. However, things do not go according to plan, as the crystal in the staff breaks just as they've completed brining back their fathers legs and torso. The rest is missing, so they dress him up in a "WEEKEND AT BERNIE'S/THE INVISIBLE MAN" style and head off to find magic again, and to finish the spell, so they can finally spend time with their dearly departed father.
There's a lot going for ONWARD, and much like many Pixar films, it pulls at the adult heartstrings with precision. Anyone who has lost a father or never knew theirs will find this film very personal. The voice cast is great, and the film earned accolades for the casual queerness of a police officer, voiced by Lena Waithe, who matter of factly states that, "My girlfriend’s daughter got me pulling my hair out." And setting it in the world of magic but magic had died is a very fun concept indeed. However, it never fully goes to the highest bars set by other Pixar films, such as WALL-E, UP, or INSIDE OUT. It's more of a middle-ground Pixar effort, definitely better than the CARS films but barely above MONSTERS UNIVERSITY.
That being said, that's totally okay! Pixar films have become so universally beloved that it's setting a bar that's far too high to achieve. A film like ONWARD might seem like a disappointment in some terms, but in all reality, it's a very fun, funny, sweet film that, of course, will make you cry near the end yet never fully realizes the potential the universe they've created has. But it's a solid family film and one that I feel will grow stronger with future viewings, especially if you are, like me, missing your family dearly in this social distancing world and would absolutely love to hug your dear old Dad right about now.
GRADE: B
WRITTEN BY Dan Scanlon, Keith Bunin and Jason Headley DIRECTED BY Dan Scanlon FEATURING THE VOICES OF Tom Holland, Chris Pratt, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Octavia Spencer NOW AVAILABLE to rent or stream on Disney +