‘Onward’ (2020) Non-Spoiler Review

Onward is the 22nd film from iconic Pixar Animation Studios and the first original film since 2017’s Coco. Onward is directed by Dan Scanlon (Monsters University) from a script by Scanlon, Jason Headley, and Keith Bunin, and stars Tom Holland as Ian, Chris Pratt as Barley, and Julia Louis-Dreyfus as Laurel. Onward tells the story of two elf brothers in a mythical world where magic has been forgotten, who must go on a quest in order to cast a spell that will bring back their deceased father for a day. Boasting an impeccably tight script full of hilarious gags and strong emotional beats, Onward is a return to the high quality of early day Pixar, even if it isn’t always executed as strongly as it could be.

Let’s begin with the directing from Dan Scanlon in his second time helming a film for the studio. As I stated above, the greatest strength of Onward is it’s incredibly tight script, and the directing from Scanlon successfully translates it to the screen. Scanlon does a wonderful job of establishing the fantastical world where the story takes place. There’s a lot of exposition that Onward must get through in it’s opening act in order for the audience to fully grasp the story, and I found that Scanlon was able to make all of that very interesting to watch. Delivering exposition can be very tricky in a film, but the devices created by the script and it’s execution by Scanlon successfully give the information in an engaging way.

However, the film’s biggest weakness is it’s second act and the directing of the various sequences within it. Don’t get me wrong, this film is delightful and all the scenes within the middle portion of the film were really fun, but they absolutely could have been crafted in a better way so that the audience stays engaged and connected. All the scenes and moments within the second act are absolutely necessary for the story and are paid off expertly in the climax, but I still found them to be less engaging than the other sections of the film. All in all, this is a very minor criticism, as I really did love this movie. Furthermore, Scanlon directs the hell out of the third act of this film. He fully extracts all the emotional beats he can from the material, and I’d be lying if I said I didn’t tear up many times during the finale. The brilliance of the script truly comes through during the third act as well, but it wouldn’t have hit as hard without the expert directing of Scanlon. Overall, the genius script is directed with expert precision, even if the second act is not as fully engaging as it’s counterparts.

Moving on, the animation of this film is breathtaking, and I absolutely adored all of the character designs within this wild world. The various different mythical creatures that inhabit the world of Onward are so wonderfully brought to life that I was often smiling to myself, reminded of the various different books and stories that I read in my youth. Even though there’s nothing Onward is directly inspired by, the animation and character design still felt somehow nostalgic for another time. That’s the magic of Disney Pixar I suppose.

The voice acting in Onward is delightful, and particularly strong from Chris Pratt and Tom Holland. When the film first began, I was actively worried that the Barley character would become too reliant on the Chris Pratt humor, and thus become distracting. However, I can gladly say that this didn’t turn out to be the case and Pratt gives wonderful life and humor to the character without overdoing it. In fact, many of the scenes where I teared up were induced by Chris Pratt’s voice work. Tom Holland is also wonderful as Ian and really delivers that awkward adolescent energy that the character called for. Ian is an endearing, sweet, and often misunderstood teenager, who benefits from another truly great voice performance. All of the other voice acting in the film is great too, but Holland and Pratt were the standouts.

 Furthering on, another brilliant aspect of the script was those characters brought to life by the great voice acting. Ian is the protagonist, with Barley playing a close second, and he absolutely carries the film. You care about him from the very beginning as he is so sweet and misunderstood, and you really get to see him grow up throughout the film. Onward is about a great many things, but a core aspect is a coming of age story for Ian. Barley is nearly another protagonist in the film, but his dynamic is quite different. He’s basically the older brother screw-up who is also misunderstood. Barley is enamored with the magic world of old, and he often gets to exercise his knowledge during their quest. Barley’s arc differs from Ian’s as he doesn’t exactly grow up in the traditional sense, but he does significantly change by the end. Other characters within the film get minor arcs as well, but the story really revolves around Ian and Barley’s relationship.

At the end of the day, Onward is about death and mourning. It essentially begs the question of what would you give to spend one last day with a person you loved. Ian and Barley go on a physical quest, but they also go on an introspective journey where they must come to terms with the reality of the situation. When the film leans into these ideas, the tears start flowing. Onward at its core is about mourning, but it’s also about brotherhood. As a middle child in a family of five boys, I know a thing or two about having brothers. Onward accurately showcases the dynamic of a sibling relationship, and I was often laughing at the realness of many scenes between the two boys. If you have brothers, or have recently had a loss in your family, then Onward will really connect with you on a different level. The choice to tackle such heavy emotional themes is bold and really displays Pixar at their best. They don’t make childrens films. They make great films that just happen to be animated.

All in all, Onward has a phenomenal screenplay, gorgeous animation, wonderful voice acting, and a great director behind it. While it occasionally stumbles in the second act, it is still a wonderful film that will make you laugh, and cry as well. Pixar of old is back, and I cannot wait to see Soul later this year.

9/10

Have you seen Onward? What did you think? Do you agree that Pixar is back to it’s old quality? Let us know in the comments! 

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