Onward is the latest animated feature from Pixar directed by Dan Scanlon and features the voice talents of Tom Holland, Chris Pratt, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Octavia Spencer, Mel Rodriguez and Kyle Bornheimer.
If you know anything about Pixar you’ll know about the company’s unique ability to craft well-thought-out features from a distinctly non-human viewpoint that can make you cry just as easily as make you laugh and Onward is no exception.
Set in a fantasy suburbia, Onward tells you about how the world was once filled with magic and wonder, of epic quests, fearsome monsters and artifacts of great power. Until things like science developed technology to make things more convenient to all and eventually the world turned into one like ours, though filled with fantasy creatures instead of humans. Now unicorns scavenge like raccoons, adventurer’s taverns have become Chuck E. Cheese style restaurants, centaurs drive cars (they never really explain how) and pixies fly commercial. All of this sounds like something that should lead up to a old vs. new kind of story as the magic of the past clashes with the smartphones of today.
But this movie really isn’t about that.
Instead it’s a story of brotherhood and the bonds of family as two elf brothers; anxious and awkward Ian (Holland) and his older, bombastic brother Barley (Pratt) embark on quest to complete a spell that would allow them to revive their deceased father for a day as they only were able to revive his bottom half. All while their mother (Dreyfus) and their quest giver The Manticore (Spencer) chase after them and get into hi-jinks of their own as they travel through what looks like a cross between Middle Earth and Northern California’s backwoods.
A lot of what makes Pixar films work is no matter how ridiculous the story may be the heart and emotions of it are genuine. The plot is an odd blend of road trip/brother comedy blended with a Dungeons and Dragon’s campaign (D&D get referenced more than once) but at its core is a story of two boys, the youngest who never got to meet his father and the eldest never got to say goodbye. There’s plenty of comedy to be had from a disembodied pair of legs but they manage to make it incredibly heartfelt as well. You’ll laugh, you’ll cry and sometimes you’ll do both at the same time, especially those who have lost a parent.
As to be expected from a Pixar film the animation and acting is top-notch so go see this film and prepare for an epic journey of feels.
Matt the Media Hunter 
I didn’t love it but the last third was good.
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