Onward Review
Before we can talk about the film we NEED to talk about The Simpsons! So recently (2019) Disney acquired “Fox” and with that comes “The Simpsons”. This has been a well known fact seeing as “The Simpsons” immediately put out a short clip of the members of the family having to put on Disney ears.
Disney tricked us into thinking that when the movie came on we’d see Mickey Mouse, but it was actually Homer with two donuts on his head! Who saw that coming? I didn’t! Then we get a short based on Maggie falling in love with another baby at a playground. It was cute and felt like The Simpsons, it didn’t feel like Disney and that’s good. I like Disney and I like The Simpsons, but for different reasons, I’d hate for the company’s to lose their identities because of this merge. I wouldn’t say no to more Simpson’s shorts in the future but not for every movie, I like a bit of variety.
Onward is a film about two brothers trying to spend one day with their Dad who died when they were very young. The boys are voiced by Tom Holland (Spiderman) and Chris Pratt (Star Lord) and I thought they worked perfectly together. What I liked was that I knew who the voices were but I didn’t get distracted by them. Like I hate Jim Cummings voicing anyone else other than Winnie the Pooh because all I can think about is Winnie.
One thing that did distract me during the film was when my partner leaned over and told me that Ian looked like Linguini from “Ratatouille” and then I couldn’t stop thinking about Linguini. Tell me we’re not the only ones who think that. They even walk the same.
So I love how rich the environment is. I mean Pixar have outdone themselves! Just walking around the house and seeing the cereal boxes, the brand of milk and seeing how everything is really familiar but just that little bit more magical. This alone makes me so excited to re-watch it at home, pausing every so on to look at all the background details I missed. I also didn’t spot A113 or the Luxo ball or in fact any Easter eggs apart from John Ratzenberger who voiced a construction worker towards the end of the film. If you didn’t know, John has voiced a character in every single Pixar film to date. He’s there good luck charm.
Let me know in the comments below if you spotted any Easter eggs.
I love the fact that this film normalised gay partnerships. One of the police officers mentions how she struggles with her girlfriends child. That small comment will have such a positive impact on the LGBTQ+ community and I’m so happy that Pixar is brave enough to do that.
Pixar also included a character with a disability, completely normalising it. Again, it’s not made a big deal in the film but that’s what it should be like. 10 points to Pixar.
So the film itself is a quest that both Ian and Barley go on and I’ve got to admit, I’m not a fan of quest style films. It always feels as though the writers are just trying to find problems for the characters to overcome in order to fill up the film and build tension when you know they’re going to complete their mission. It’s the same pattern again and again. To top it off, the boys fall out. Whenever there’s a quest, the character have to fall out! It’s so stereotypical and it’s boring! These parts of the film were just too predictable.
Pixar have this pattern with their films that they never end how you want them to. Take for example “Monsters Inc”, Sully had to send Boo away. “Toy Story 3” didn’t end how we wanted, Andy gave away all of his toys. In “Inside Out” Riley didn’t get to go back home and be with her friends. In “The Good Dinosaur” Arlo and Spot had to go there separate ways. There are countless more examples but what I’m trying to explain is that Pixar never gives you a fairy tale ending, that’s Disney’s job. Pixar gives the characters bitter sweet endings where they learn things and have to grow. In Onward’s case, Ian didn’t get to see his Dad and that was heart-breaking, it made me cry. I didn’t like that ending but I knew it was coming. By Pixar never giving the fairy tale ending, I knew what was coming which was annoying because I was so rooting for Ian. I mean why couldn’t Barley just tell him to turn around, just for a second.
I hate to moan, but I also didn’t find the movie funny and I think it could have been, with Barley’s intense enthusiasm about the history of magic and Ian’s haphazardness, there could have been some laughs. I did like the dragons face though.
It’s not my favourite Pixar film. It beats “Cars”, “Monsters Inc” and “The Incredibles” but none of the other films.
Let me know what you thought of “Onward”. Where would you place it on your list of Pixar films? Come back on Friday 13th for another Disney blog.
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