Onward movie review by Movie Review Mom

MOVIE TITLE:  Onward

RATING:  PG

LENGTH:  1 hour, 42 minutes

Movie Review Mom GRADE:   B

IN A NUTSHELL:

Within the first few minutes, you see all kinds of magical creatures and are introduced to a fun, new world and a quest that inspires.  The movie has plenty of action, humor, and emotion for all ages of viewers who are ready for a fun adventure.  It’s not Pixar’s best animated movie, but it has heart and a message that will give courage to kids on the edge of adulthood.

Director Dan Scanlon lost his own father at a young age, so the story takes on a personal level that is heartbreaking and heartwarming at the same time.

TIPS FOR PARENTS:

• Death of a parent, talk of a sick person in the hospital
• Family, brotherhood, father/son relationships
• Bullying Pixie Dusters
• One of the female cops (voiced by Ali Wong)  is a lesbian and makes mention of her girlfriend.
• I don’t know that this will be a big seller but the lead character just might inspire kids who are like him to believe in themselves and the impossible.
  

THEMES:

• We often take for granted the amazing things all around us.  There is magic in you too.  Ian  Lightfoot (Tom Holland’s character) says, “With a little bit of magic in your life, you can do almost anything.”  In fact, one of the messages is that you can only work the magic if you have self-confidence.
• Be bold
• Belief in magic and in one’s self
• Sacrifice for others
• Adventure
• Courage vs. fear
• Use what you have
• Challenge yourself

THINGS I LIKED:

• • The feels!
  • I laughed at the mom because she reminded me of myself in a lot of ways. It was cute to see her team up with the “Manticore” as they had their own adventure.  I was glad the women weren’t sidelined in the story.  They’re voiced by Julia Louis-Dreyfus and Octavia Spencer.  Julia Louis-Dreyfus hasn’t been in an animated film by Pixar since A Bug’s Life 22 years ago.  The Manticore was a really fun character that teaches us to reignite the fire within us.
  • Tom Holland and Chris Pratt are so fun to watch on screen in person, as well as just hear their voices in animation.
  • Lots of entertaining visual gags and humor.
  • Amazing animation, as expected by the reliably awesome Pixar.  The photo realism was often jarred by the animation, which is what bothered me the most about the movie  The Good Dinosaur (Theatrical) , although it wasn’t nearly as bad in this movie.
  • I appreciate that the story is a new idea.  Yay fresh!
  • Hooray for John Ratzenberger.  I love that he’s included in so many Pixar movies.  It’s the third time he voices a construction worker in an animation.
  • I love a good checklist and was touched by Ian Lightfoot’s list.
  • Only having 1 day to spend with their father really raised the stakes and sense of urgency in the plot.  Well done.
  • Ian Lightfoot’s character was actually based on Alfredo Linguini from the adorable movie Ratatouille  SUCH a cute movie!
  • Fans of Pixar will appreciate a few Easter eggs in the movie, like their classic Pizza Planet truck that is seen in the film.  I love little nuggets like that for fans.

• Awwww, man.  That big reveal ending really brought me to tears.  So touching.
• The adorable animated short “Playdate With Destiny” featuring The Simpsons: Season 1 and Tracey Ullman’s voice plays before this movie in theaters.
• Act 3 definitely saves the movie and pulls it all together.
• We’re seeing more and more animated movies that explore sadness, fear, and even dark subjects that will, hopefully, help kids to prepare for life’s inevitable ups and downs.
• I thought it was really fun that Barley Lightfoot was an expert on Dungeons and Dragons, making him the perfect guide to take the two brothers on their journey with magic.  There’s a cute little manual he used that I could see kids wanting to experiment with.  Being a nerd has never been celebrated so much before as we’re seeing now in films.
• I appreciated the portrayal of a step-parent and that often tricky relationship with kids.

THINGS I DIDN’T LIKE:

• It’s never explained how the father who doesn’t possess the top half of his body can actually see and walk around.  Uh, magic, I guess.  It’s hard to feel super connected to a character who only has pants on.  I worried about this movie when I first saw the trailer, wondering how a creepy half-body was going to be charming in a story.  I liked that the pants and their movement looked like they really belonged to a dad and not a boy.
• There’s actually a pending lawsuit involving a tattoo artist who claims Pixar stole her unicorn design on the van in the movie (the “Vanicorn”).
• Not all the humor lands.
• The first few minutes of the movie show so many interesting characters that we never get to see again.  I would like to have seen more of them.  Sequel?

INTERESTING LINES:

• “I’m sorry, Marley. You need to spend less time thinking about the past and more about the future.” – Laurel Lightfoot   (Julia Louis-Dreyfus)
• “It’s not fair to call me a screw-up when you don’t give me a chance to get one thing right.” – Barley Lightfoot  (Chris Pratt)

OTHER MOVIES LIKE THIS YOU MIGHT ENJOY THAT WERE ALSO DIRECTED BY DAN SCALON:

   It’s not the strongest episode in the Monsters Inc universe, but it was still enjoyable, kind of like this new Pixar movie.

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@TrinaBoice