Episode 740 - Onward (2020)

Hi everyone!

Welcome back for another Matinee Monday. Some weekends it’s easier to pick a film than other weekends. And generally, whenever Pixar releases a new film, we’re first in line to check it out. Stay tuned for my review of ONWARD in a minute, but for a couple other Pixar films we’ve reviewed, check out INCREDIBLES 2 (Episode #169) and TOY STORY 4 (Episode #531).

Before the review, we’ll have a brand-new promo from our good friends at The VHS Strikes Back podcast. Every week, Dave and Chris blow the dust off an actual VHS cassette, then watch and discuss the film. You can find out more on Twitter @vhsstrikesback or on Facebook and Instagram by searching for The VHS Strikes Back podcast. Don’t miss their two guest episodes during last year’s Reign of Terror 2019, with reviews for ALIEN VS PREDATOR (Episode #605) and 30 DAYS OF NIGHT (Episode #626). And don’t miss their recent guest review as Comics in Motion for BIRDS OF PREY (Episode #720)!

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Here we go!

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<< VHS STRIKES BACK PROMO >>

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Today’s movie is ONWARD (2020), the Pixar animated film directed by Dan Scanlon and written for the screen in collaboration with Jason Headley and Keith Bunin. ONWARD takes us to a world of magic, populated by fairy tale and mythical creatures, but after science has replaced magic in their everyday lives. Ian Lightfoot (Tom Holland) is an elf living at home with his mother Laurel (Julia Louis-Dreyfus) and his older brother Barley (Chris Pratt). On his sixteenth birthday, Ian and Barley are given a staff from their long-dead father, which contains a spell to bring him back for one day. But when the spell fails halfway, the brothers embark on a quest to find a gem to finish the spell and see their father one last time.

If you’re not crying right now, I don’t know what’s wrong with you.

No spoilers.

In addition to being a movie nerd growing up, I was also a role-playing nerd. I absolutely loved to play Dungeons & Dragons, but like most folks, I had trouble finding a group that could meet regularly. My love for fantasy transferred into reading multiple franchise novels and playing the many RPG video games making their way to consoles. Before nerd culture was accepted, I was teased for all of that. After the explosion in nerd culture, I’m just one of the many unshowered masses at conventions and theaters. All those intellectual properties and characters I loved growing up are now heading to the big screen, at least seven of which we previewed before ONWARD. I’m really happy about all of that, but sometimes seeing those adaptations comes to life and having everything at your fingertips takes away... well, the magic of it all. And that’s the key theme being explored in ONWARD.

ONWARD is definitely a coming of age story disguised as a family road trip film, built within an amalgamated, modernized fantasy world. You can catch all that from the trailer. But as happens with most Pixar films, there are always more than one larger subtexts to explore. ONWARD, in many ways, builds off the same themes of fantasy and reality, and coming of age, as seen in the TOY STORY franchise. But ONWARD also looks at what our world becomes when we lose the magic in our lives, even when magic is all around us. The fantasy creatures and the idea of magic in ONWARD are easily substitutes for ourselves and the miracles of the technology around us. We’re often told to let go of that magic in our lives, and ONWARD meditates on what happens when we wildly give into that magic, even when it seems hopeless.

Worldbuilding is always important to Pixar franchises, created with a sense of embedded meaning, and operating by a specific set of rules crucial to the overall story. ONWARD not only opens with a brief history for the technological evolution of the world, but also walks us through a day in the life of Ian Lightfoot, and his awkward relationship to his family. Awkward not just for the usual sixteen-year-old reasons, but because their father Wilden Lightfoot (Kyle Bornheimer) died of an unnamed disease before Ian was born. He lives vicariously through his brother’s precious few memories, and lives with the odd phantom pain of never knowing one of your parents. We get everything we need to know before we take off on our journey, knowing full well we’ll also discover magic along the way.

The world in ONWARD is pretty much built like ours, with an electrical infrastructure and a capitalist economy, and allows us to identify just enough with all of the characters wherever we might be in our lives. In addition to Ian, we also begin to learn more about Barley, mostly through his actions, and his custom-built straight-from-the-80s wood-paneled van named Guinevere. The two brothers, and their half-dad, head out, taking both the direct and scenic routes, in their quest to complete the spell. It’s a journey that begins with wonder, and steadily builds tension, because as you begin to know and love these characters, you also realize just how incredibly high the stakes actually are, especially if you‘ve ever lost a parent. It’s a subtle point, but Scanlon and company absolutely pluck that heartstring, and more steadily as the film, like all journeys, draws to its incredible close.

As always with Pixar, the animation in ONWARD is top-notch. Everything from the sweeping vistas to the microdetails is rendered beautifully, somehow finding the right mixture of magic and realism to fit each mood. The film has great voicework, great pacing, and ticks all the boxes of a consistently excellent Pixar film. Ironically, Pixar has made their brand of movie magic so commonplace, with such consistent quality, that they have trouble making their films stand out amongst their overall filmography. ONWARD is an excellent film, but a pretty standard Pixar film. And that’s definitely enough for this critic.

One oddity from seeing this film. In addition to the seven previews One Movie Spouse and I had to endure prior to the film, we were also treated to a Simpsons short as an appetizer. Film Twitter and pop culture nerds have had a lot of hot takes about what this means for Disney, aside from the obvious brand synergy. Some folks are rehashing the Fox/Disney arguments. I’m not actually sure what to make of it, other than this might be the new normal now that many of the Pixar shorts are debuting directly on Disney+. It’s not bad, but felt out of place, less synergistic and more dissonant, thematically speaking. I’m sure this won’t be the only weird stumbling moment as the media empire continues to coalesce.

ONWARD is a top-notch animated film from Pixar, using one boy’s coming of age story, and a family road trip, to explore the loss of magic in our lives. Scanlon and his team do a great job of worldbuilding, character development, production design, and pacing to deliver a solid experience with one or two surprises. Animation fans, especially Pixar fans, and role-playing nerds should definitely check out this film. And bring a lot of tissues.

Rotten Tomatoes: 87% (CERTIFIED FRESH)

Metacritic: 62

One Movie Punch: 9.0/10

ONWARD (2020) is rated PG and is currently playing in theaters.