Onward (2020)
Directed by Dan Scanlon
In a suburban fantasy world, two teenage elf brothers embark on an extraordinary quest to discover if there is still a little magic left out there.
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20 films that influenced Onward
What critics say influenced Onward
Although it does not join the likes of “The Incredibles” and “WALL-E” in the pantheon of company masterworks, “Onward” is a touching, lovingly crafted oddity — a movie that acknowledges its borrowed elements at the outset and then proceeds to reinvigorate them with tried-and-true Pixar virtues: sly wit, dazzling invention and a delicacy of feeling that approaches the sublime.
Speaking of Pixar hallmarks, the world-building in Onward is absolutely spectacular and unquestionably rivals the lavish underwater world of Finding Nemo and the innovative styling of The Incredibles.
As you may recall, Pixar has dabbled in mythical fantasy before in their highly underrated 2012 film, "Brave."
Scanlon, who began at Pixar as a storyboard artist on 2006's Cars and has been part of their "senior creative team" since 2012's Brave, takes to heart the importance the studio has long placed on story and characters.
The crass commercialization and relentless standardization of modern life has been a choice satirical target for Pixar movies as different as “Ratatouille” and “Toy Story.”
Even as a child, I could tell there was something about movies like Toy Story and A Bug’s Life that was different than other Disney properties.
Word of mouth should help this film stick around amidst modest competition, but I can only hope that the studio is rewarded for such great original storytelling instead of having no choice but to sheepishly pencil in a Toy Story 5.
Like Monsters University (also directed by Dan Scanlon), Finding Dory and A Bug’s Life before it, Onward touches on themes of social acceptance, self-worth, and explores the idea of the lovable oaf who will not only self-actualize by movie’s end, but whose worth is made clear to those who admonish them.
There's not a single interesting vocal performance, though Julia Louis-Dreyfuss, as Ian and Barley's mom, comes closest (she's the only Pixar veteran with a large role, returning to the fold 22 years after A Bug's Life ), and not a single narrative surprise worthy of the name.
Onward reminded me more of '80s pleasures like The Goonies and Adventures in Babysitting.
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It's unfortunate because Onward is quite a lovely film, even if it doesn't quite measure up to the studio's greatest triumphs like WALL-E, Finding Nemo, Up, Toy Story 3, Inside Out, and Coco.
Where Up looked up, Onward merely looks onward.
In other words, it’s not the most completely original work Pixar has created by a mile, especially in comparison to “Up” and the other films I’ve listed off earlier.
What is missing are the unexpected flights of fancy on which Pixar forged its reputation — breathtaking, tempo-altering sequences like the fire-extinguisher ballet of “WALL-E,” or the refreshingly adult perspective of “Up.”
No matter how Onward performs, Pixar has another new original movie opening up just a few months later in June's Soul from Pete Docter (Up, Inside Out, Monsters, Inc.).
A distinction that doesn’t apply with either “Coco” or “Inside Out” which ventured into risky territories yet to be explored in most other kid’s films made today.
No matter how Onward performs, Pixar has another new original movie opening up just a few months later in June's Soul from Pete Docter (Up, Inside Out, Monsters, Inc.).
No matter how Onward performs, Pixar has another new original movie opening up just a few months later in June's Soul from Pete Docter (Up, Inside Out, Monsters, Inc.).
It's unfortunate because Onward is quite a lovely film, even if it doesn't quite measure up to the studio's greatest triumphs like WALL-E, Finding Nemo, Up, Toy Story 3, Inside Out, and Coco.
It seems strange to me to complain that Onward isn’t as good as Finding Nemo or The Incredibles when its director previously made Monsters University.
Speaking of Pixar hallmarks, the world-building in Onward is absolutely spectacular and unquestionably rivals the lavish underwater world of Finding Nemo and the innovative styling of The Incredibles.
I might go so far as to call it Pixar's most aggressively mediocre feature - the aggression in this case being that all the other contenders for that title (2013's Monsters University , 2016's Finding Dory , 2017's Cars 3 ) were sequels or prequels, while Onward is an original story.
Like Monsters University (also directed by Dan Scanlon), Finding Dory and A Bug’s Life before it, Onward touches on themes of social acceptance, self-worth, and explores the idea of the lovable oaf who will not only self-actualize by movie’s end, but whose worth is made clear to those who admonish them.
Onward reminded me more of '80s pleasures like The Goonies and Adventures in Babysitting.
The boys, intermittently disguising the body with “Weekend at Bernie’s”-style puppetry and clothes that might have suited the original invisible man, embark on a mission to conjure the rest of him.
The floppy, “Weekend at Bernie’s”-style physical comedy is good for a laugh or two but grows old quickly and eventually feels like easy, go-to shtick.
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I might go so far as to call it Pixar's most aggressively mediocre feature - the aggression in this case being that all the other contenders for that title (2013's Monsters University , 2016's Finding Dory , 2017's Cars 3 ) were sequels or prequels, while Onward is an original story.
Whatever the origins of this thread, it seems to be of a piece with the anxieties of Cars 3 and Monsters University, in which Lightning McQueen worried about being a has-been, or worse, a sellout, and Mike Wazowski came to terms with leaving greatness to others and being okay just being okay.
It's unfortunate because Onward is quite a lovely film, even if it doesn't quite measure up to the studio's greatest triumphs like WALL-E, Finding Nemo, Up, Toy Story 3, Inside Out, and Coco.
As for Pixar, “Onward” is their first wholly original piece since “Coco” from 2017 in a time when sequels like “Toy Story 4” and “Incredibles 2” are all we can expect.