“Onward” follows two heroes on a solid journey that isn’t perfect but still represents a strong bond and soul through its own path
A Movie Review Written By: Victor DeBonis
“Onward” is a solid, animated comedy-adventure that follows two elf brothers who embark on a quest to have one last chance to talk to their deceased father. The fact that this story takes place in a modern setting, completely engulfed by a fantastical vibe, is not unheard of. Movies, such as 2016’s “Bright,” have tackled this set-up before in different ways, whether it’s an attempt to communicate societal issues or bring in unexpected humor to an unusual environment. While the fantastical, contemporary background doesn’t spark as much world-building or creative opportunities as one would hope for, it works well enough for our two main heroes, and their journey evokes decent enough humor and a rather good comedy-adventure that doesn’t always hit the mark with its writing but shows more of its cleverness and Pixar’s all-too-familiar heart as their quest advances. Between the great chemistry between the two main characters and their methods of dealing with the trials in their self-proclaimed quest, “Onward” moves forward with a steady pace and a sometimes upbeat, sometimes surprisingly tense feel reminiscent of any good adventure, and the originality and courage from its own demeanor carries it forward with ease.
In all fairness, this world does have some interesting and humorous moments and parts regarding its fantastical presence. There are rough fairy/motorcyclists who are humorous in how they can intimidate others while still being tiny, and their combined strength of being able to move their motorcycles around is both humorous and inventive. Also, I admire the hint of fantastical lore surrounding a foe that the brothers have to face, later on. The movie also succeeds in making use of its fantastical world to set up traps or ancient clues in order to achieve the ultimate goal. These clues and spells, mentioned in the movie, remain reminiscent of what one would expect to find on a mystical journey from a fantasy-related game or book on a smaller scale, and, when it takes advantage of its setting in that regard, it works great. More on that, in a bit.
The sad truth is that, when it comes to the jokes from the fantastical setting, it has more of a hit-or-miss feeling to its humor. And, while no jokes made me groan, several of them are either the ones that I could spot from a mile away or are just ones that don’t go for as many creative opportunities as they could. When a centaur boyfriend of the mom enters the house, we know that he’s going to bump into a bunch of objects to make them fall, and that’s exactly what happens. We see lone unicorns act like hissing stray cats in this movie, which feels random but could be explored more to have them mimic felines more in ways that are funny, yet that never happens. The challenge with having a modern fantasy world is that, since fantasy and modern humor have been combined many times before, you have to either seriously step up your game with your world-building or tell jokes that work greatly off of the creativity from your environment. The movie struggles in both regards, since the fantastical setting isn’t as investing or creative as it could be, and the writing, while not bad, doesn’t have enough going on from its creatures or its setting to help make for stronger laughs. A fair number of jokes caused me to chuckle and mildly laugh, but none caused me to laugh out loud as I tended to do from Pixar’s stronger movies. The humor, as a whole, isn’t the film’s strong point.
The part that is the film’s strongest asset comes from the strong connection between the brothers and how their journey cleverly requires their encouragement and advice from each other to advance on their quest. Scenes are set up in which they have to work with each other and their magical or practical knowledge to escape something or overcome a deadly obstacle, such as crossing a massive gap between two grassy cliffs with the use of a spell from a magical book. As mentioned before, the script shows its real strength here in how it cleverly works these obstacles into the quest while also pinpointing the brothers’ individuals flaws but further pushing them in their strengths to help the other out and make sacrifices or extra encouragement to advance over this creature or this death trap. This sets up a fair amount of serious stakes and intrigue, especially since you do want to see these sons talk with their father. As a result, the pacing of the adventure feels steadier and keeps you engaged through their entire journey in a way that doesn’t feel forced. Also, as per usual for Pixar’s filmography, the film’s animation is wonderfully done, filled with plenty of great colors and some great backgrounds to heighten the epic or realistic appearances of the locations on the brothers’ quest, and the musical score by brothers Mychael and Jeff Danna bring the right tunes to bring either reflective calm or speedily moving anticipation to the journey.
It also helps that Tom Holland, who plays Ian, and Chris Pratt, who portrays Barley, work so well in their given roles as the elf brothers. Holland excels at voicing an awkward yet lovable and determined nerd, reminding me a bit of his live-action role as Peter Parker from the MCU, and he plays this type of character superbly here as he does for the 2010’s live-action “Spider-Man” movies. I admit that recognizing from the beginning how Ian obviously needed to work on gaining his confidence and would have it, by the end, made for some predictable vibes from watching it, but, as I said, it’s done in a pretty clever way with the journey storyline, and Holland’s performance helps sell the vulnerability and courage that Ian never knew he had and makes you want to see him be with his dad. Pratt practically steals every scene that he’s in. His incredible gusto and sense of bravado makes you want to follow him on any adventure, either imagined or real, that he wants to embark upon, and he never comes across as annoying. Barley feels rather genuine and sincerely cares about his younger brother in spite of how foolish and stubborn he can be. He’s practically in his own world, and the movie does a good job for one brief yet effective moment of his, later, that gives you a greater sense of why he acts as he does.
Beyond even that, Holland and Pratt’s interactions off of each other are great, too. Much like most relationships between siblings, they occasionally poke fun at each other and get frustrated with the other at points, but they’re always looking out for each other and trying to push and encourage each other in the best possible ways. Their differences in their personalities and the strong dynamic that comes from them is not unlike many funny buddy-related comedy-adventures, and it works well here, too. I also love how, similar to Dipper and Mabel’s beautifully done relationship as siblings from the Disney show, “Gravity Falls,” Ian and Barley’s bond doesn’t consist of your typical sibling relationship, where they completely hate each other’s guts or are just indifferent to each other, and it instead feels genuine and well-balanced with both of them being different but ultimately caring about each other and helping each other develop in great ways.
With all of this said, the story itself does experience its own case of hiccups every now and then. For instance, the boys’ mom, played by Julia Louis-Dreyfus, joins forces with a discovered companion in the form of a manticore played by Octavia Spencer, decides to set out on her own to find where her boys are. At first, I grew eager, expecting to see this mother do a bunch of awesome feats of bravery of her own and experience some of this quest with her boys and maybe share an additional truth that they didn’t know about their father. Sadly, her subplot doesn’t truly go anywhere, and the mother doesn’t truly do much that’s incredibly important for the storyline or her development as a character. Her moments simply feel as though they’re padding out for time.
In regards to the element of the father, scenes involving the dad are nicely done and give much of the subtle, heartfelt emotions to the movie. In the first half, there’s a scene involving a tape that’s related to this character, a scene actually inspired by the director of the movie, Dan Scanlon, and a moment from his own life and the loss of his dad that heavily inspired the making of this movie. I won’t ruin what it is, but it’s beautifully shot and acted and helps you identify with just how much Holland’s character wants to meet his father and how lost he sometimes feels without him.
The strange truth is that we don’t see as many scenes discussing the father as we’re led to believe. As a result, we know enough traits about the father and how much he means to his sons, but I was hoping to learn more about him. This probably plays a role into my other big issue with this film: I was invested with the relationship involving the father, but the emotions with me weren’t captured with the same incredible clutch as other stories that I’ve seen from both shows and movies discussing a lost or unknown parent. With that said, the story is a nice tribute to the director’s dad and will probably resonate quite well with anyone who’s lost a parent or guardian, yet viewers should keep in mind that the movie is truly more about the relationship between the brothers. And, how the movie comes to its message towards the last act, involving the brothers, is vastly clever and heartfelt, and it reminded me once more of the genuine soul and intelligence that Pixar has always had.
“Onward” is a decent comedy-adventure that may not be among Pixar’s best works but is still original in its story and set-up (something I’m craving more of from Disney these days) and, similar to most of this studio’s works, it has its heart right where it needs to be and keeps itself going steadily with solid stakes, lovable heroes, and their strong relationship and what is learned from them. The quest is fine for what’s pursued and what’s learned. And, as any person from a journey will tell you, it’s the value that comes from the quest itself, despite the imperfect stumbles associated with the path, that always matters the most.
Grade: B