Pixar’s Onward is a wonderfully meta romp in a modernized D&D fantasy world, coupled with the emotional, heartfelt family story that Pixar is known for. Following elvish brothers, Ian and Barley, as they embark on a quest to see their late father for one day. While Pixar gets the emotional magic right- no surprise there- I feel like they missed a few small things in their approach that would have really made it shine. Let’s be perfectly clear: I love Onward, I endorse Onward and I encourage anyone and their mothers to see Onward. However, allow me to nit pick and do the things that critics do best, if I may.
I love the idea of the world that they were trying to create. The idea of a modernized, post-magic world of mythical creatures has limitless potential. Potential that Pixar could have driven deep into. While they mainly succeeded, I feel that Pixar could have done more to immerse viewers into this world. Pixar’s flagship classic Monsters Inc. and even it’s sequel, Monsters University, worked so well because they weren’t afraid to slow down and showcase the intricacies of how the monster world works. With Onward, we don’t see any of the differences between our world and the fantasy world being presented to us beyond a few puns, name changes and visual gags. The Monsters Inc. universe is unique because it is different. It does things differently because the characters are different; they’re monsters. No matter how human-like they are, they have cultural and physical differences that the movies address without the audience even having to process them because they are organically built into the world and story. With Onward, the line dividing the “fantasy” and the human status quo is almost nonexistent. You could replace all the “fantasy” elements with real world equivalents and nothing would truly be lost. While that might be a criticism of modernization and westernization, that theme is clearly overlooked in a story that never ventures far beyond its central family. The world of Onward is fine for the D&D aesthetic and a wonderful template for animation, but the intricacies that Pixar is known for are simply not as prominent as they could be.
Other than that, it seems like standard Pixar fare. While “standard” for Pixar is leagues beyond most other studios, it still is simply that- standard. I can’t say that I wasn’t a tad bit disappointed by the minor lack of polish that Onward had. It’s like finding a small wrinkle in your favorite shirt: You still love the shirt and it still looks good, but you know it could be slightly better. At the end of the day, Onward is still a quest worth taking. So, go forth and light your heart’s fire in a film that anyone can enjoy.
FINAL GRADE: B+
Calm and Cultured 