Onward

[StevePulaski]

Onward (2020)
Directed by: Dan Scanlon

Ian (foreground, voiced by Tom Holland) and Barley (Chris Pratt) in Onward.

Rating: ★★★

Onward takes place in a world where magic once thrived. Unicorns and dragons took to the sky while creatures of all kinds roamed the ground below. It was a mythical time that's gone by the wayside in favor of technological progress. At one point, wizardry and spells were how people got around, made light, and found solutions to common problems. Now the world looks a bit like ours: glossy, dependent on industries, and stamped with a corporate sheen.

Our protagonist is a bit like some of us too. His name is Ian (voiced by Tom Holland), a pitifully shy 16-year-old boy living with his mother, Laurel (Julia Louis-Dreyfus) and older brother Barley (Chris Pratt). The family marches forward, but can't help but grieve the loss of their patriarch, Wilden (Kyle Bornheimer). But he might not be gone forever. The three discover a magical staff and an ultra-rare gemstone that will bring Wilden back to life for 24 hours. Barley is obsessed with magic and role-playing games, but fails to make the spell work. As fate would have it, it's Ian who has the magical abilities, but his hesitation while reciting the spell only brings back his father's disembodied legs. They need to travel a great distance in order to find another gemstone, re-recite the spell, bring their entire father back, and do it all in 24 hours. Soon enough, the pair of elf brothers (and a pair of legs) are speeding off in Barley's beater van.

It was probably only a matter of time before Pixar made a film about a madcap quest, and the result while more mixed than you'd expect from the animation powerhouse, a third tier effort from them is still more memorable than most other animated films we see year-to-year.

One gripe I have is the world — which doesn't have a name as far as I can recall — doesn't feel fully realized. The same species that used to rule the land, in so many words, such as unicorns and dragons, have inexplicably taken on the behavioral patterns of raccoons and dogs, respectively. Then there's a miserable flock of winged fairies who questionably choose to travel on motorcycles as opposed to just using their wings for transportation. Trying to find logic in a world where elves coexist with a manticore (Octavia Spencer in a fun supporting role) isn't an act that should provide a mental strain on one's mind, but consider films like Toy Story or Monsters, Inc., where even in the first installment, the rules of the world were articulated. Here, the slapdash pacing doesn't offer much time for explanations.

The heart of the movie lies in the loving yet occasionally disagreeable relationship between Ian and Barley, which is realistically portrayed without missing a beat. Ian has been greatly aided by Barley given his lack of a father figure, yet the layabout ways of Barley suggest he could use a father's love as well. Together, however, Barley gets a younger sibling to mentor and Ian gets the benefit of having some significant male influence in his life. Writers Keith Bunin (Horns), Jason Headley, and Dan Scanlon (who serves as director) do a fine job at showing the mental weight both brothers have to bear: Ian not having a father and Barley constantly having to encourage his brother, who lacks self-confidence. A recurring device that shows Ian's confidence blossom is his fledgling ability to cast magical spells. Barley coaches him to believe in the words he's saying and the powers they hold, something Ian struggles mightily with, prompting precarious outcomes. One such example is when the two come across a large bottomless pit they must cross in order to lower the drawbridge on the other side. There is a spell that summons an invisible bridge, but it will only appear (and be sustained) if steps are taken with complete confidence. This is Ian's ultimate test of his belief, and let's just say, the entire sequence made my palms sweat.

Onward has affecting moments like this throughout, which is a bit surprising given it's such a kinetic road movie. It's far from the prettiest Pixar film, for that matter, but its heart is always in the right place. Similar to Scanlon's last Pixar effort, Monsters University, the film comes with a sneaky good moral, this time about finding magic and wonder in a world that is ostensibly beyond such concepts. You could argue it's parallel to Pixar's standing in a more competitive landscape, where a bushel of animated works come out annually, and many often undermining potential resonance in favor of being manic babysitters. Having said that, Pixar continues its streak of having damn good climaxes and third acts with Onward, even if it might be a touch too chaotic in this case. It packs a powerful emotional sacrifice I did not foresee, and it ties itself together beautifully after a dubious first act that made me worried.

Onward is one of two Pixar films we'll be gifted this year, the next one being Pete Docter's Soul, slated for release in June. Given Docter's track record of Up and Inside Out proving he's responsible for some of the studio's strongest and most emotionally potent films, I'm guilty of approaching that one with more optimism. That being said, Onward is a successful effort with a strong theme and a handful of inspired sequences that once again demonstrate how you can never count Pixar out, even if the paratext leading up to this adventure almost made you want to do just that.

NOTE: Surprisingly, Onward is preceded by a Simpsons short (since Disney acquired Fox and now, too, owns the rights). It's called "Playdate with Destiny" and revolves around Maggie's infatuation with another infant boy. Dialog-free and just a few minutes long, it's so cute it's liable to melt your heart. It, too, suggests that maybe The Simpsons should end its unprecedented run and circumvent back to being a series of shorts, such as when the characters debuted on The Tracey Ullman Show all the way back in 1989.

Voiced by: Tom Holland, Chris Pratt, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Octavia Spencer, and Kyle Bornheimer. Directed by: Dan Scanlon.