Movie Breakdown: Onward
Pre-Screening Ramble:
I’ve enjoyed the trailers for Onward and have been looking forward to seeing the movie, but I’m starting to get the feeling that I’m the only one on this train. Every time I ask another person about it, I’m met with “which one is that again?” and then a shoulder shrug. Where’s the love for a brand new Pixar original?
Post-Screening Ramble:
Onward is a very middle of the road affair. It follows a couple of elf brothers who get a chance to spend 24 hours with their deceased father, but their magic isn’t magical enough and they’re only able to conjure up his bottom half. Determined to not just hang out with their dead dad’s legs, Ian (Tom Holland) and Barley (Chris Pratt) take on a quest for more power that leads them across a once magical world that’s now overwrought with convenience via technology. Some hilarity ensues and there’s a couple of exciting bits, but for the most part this is a film bent on shoveling emotional moments down your throat. Every few minutes the eternally wounded and wimpy Ian mopes about something, or the overly confident and loud Barley complains about how no one takes him seriously, and it’s all followed by a moment where they look at their daddy’s wandering legs and double down on how hard and unfair life is. To be honest, there were a few times where I wanted the film to stop crying in my general direction, but thankfully the heavy dose of sentimentality manages to be more endearing than anything else.
I can’t say that Onward is an overly memorable movie or one of Pixar’s finest, but its heart is very much in the right place and that covers up some of its shortcomings, such as its lack of creativity/originality (especially considering its fantastical setting) and the fact that Holland and Pratt are not quality voice actors. It’s definitely worth at least a matinee.
One Last Thought:
I didn’t realize it until I went to write this review, but Julia Louis-Dreyfus is the voice of Laurel (Ian and Barley’s mom). She’s genuinely sweet in the film, and I think it may be the only thing I’ve ever seen her do that wasn’t laced with a sharp sense of humor.
