Movie Review: “Onward”

“Onward”

Release Date: March 6, 2020

Runtime: 102 mins

Directed by: Dan Scanlon

Starring: Tom Holland

               Chris Pratt

              Julia Louis-Dreyfus

             Octavia Spencer

Pixar is a studio many people have come to expect quality output from. The animation is going to be state of the art, the story will be designed to tug at your heartstrings and people of all ages will find it entertaining. As far as I am concerned, this reputation is deserved for the most part. In the past decade, Pixar took a shift away from original and creative stories and started investing at least half their resources into sequels. Though not inherently bad—“Toy Story 2” is still my favorite Pixar movie and one of my favorite movies in general—the studio began to pump out sequels which felt completely unnecessary and comparatively lazy. The “Cars” trilogy is probably the biggest offender here, but “Monsters University,” “Incredibles 2” and “Toy Story 4” either should have been better or should not have been made in the first place. None of these movies were outright bad—with the exceptions of “Cars 2” and “Toy Story 4,” I have my reasons—but they were not particularly memorable either. More than that, even some of Pixar’s original movies have been more than a little lackluster. 

This is all to say, at least in my opinion, Pixar, for whatever reason, has declined in quality over the past 10 years. Where we used to get fantastical and creative stories, worlds and characters, we have slightly better than above average family movies. Not as much thought goes into their movies as they used to. It is almost like they mustered up some kind of formula. I feel like Pixar realized the general public has come to associate them so much with excellence, they feel as if they do not have to try as hard. Maybe I look back on the movies I watched repeatedly as a kid with rose-colored glasses, but I do not think so. I still watch movies like the first three “Toy Story” movies, “Up,” “Wall-E” and “Monsters, Inc.,” and they still hold up remarkably well.

Pixar’s latest film, “Onward,” takes place in a world populated by mythical creatures where electricity has conveniently replaced magic for people. Two elf brothers—played by Chris Pratt and Tom Holland—come across a spell which might be able to bring their dad back to life for one day. Things go wrong. Hijinks ensue. 

I honestly have very little to say about “Onward” other than I thought it was good, but I will attempt to go into more details. First and foremost, the animation here is gorgeous. Pixar has the ability to make their grass, water and trees look photo-realistic at this point. I also liked the feeling of adventure this movie had. It is a fast-paced ride, jumping from one exciting set piece to the next in quick succession. The characters are likeable, and I felt most of the emotions I was supposed to. The whole twist the movie is going for is pretty easy to catch onto early, but it is nonetheless well-executed. The movie was also good at introducing things to the audience and reincorporating them into the story when it made sense. 

My issues with the movie come in where the setting is concerned. This just seems like Earth but with elves, centaurs and pixies instead of people. Everything else is pretty much the same. The cars and roads look the same. There is even a joke with the centaur character where he has trouble getting back into his car because, even though mythical creatures exist, a market for vehicles made for these creatures is nowhere to be found. This really sounds like a nitpick, but it is emblematic of my main problem with the movie. I felt like the people who made it did not care about the world or characters enough to think through the implications of their premise. How does electricity being invented suddenly make magic obsolete to everyone but people who play tabletop games? Magic can BRING PEOPLE BACK TO LIFE, and it is somehow obsolete because the lightbulb exists? 

If these are issues which would not bother you even a little bit, you will enjoy “Onward.” If they would, I think you are better off skipping it. 

Drew Eckhart is a junior history and pre-law major from Edmond, OK. He has loved movies for as long as he can remember but thinks his passion really began when he watched “The Dark Knight” for the first time. His favorite type of movie blends comedy and drama seamlessly, and he loves great action films.  His favorite movie is “The Graduate.”

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