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Everyone is excited for every Pixar movie. This is just a fact. Their track record, while not spotless, is so good that you can’t not be excited when you see that silly lamp hop on screen. However their latest outing, Onward, didn’t have us quite hooked right at the start.
We were obviously intrigued by our boys Tom Holland and Chris Pratt taking the leads. Star Lord and Spiderman together again? What’s not to love?! But over the course of about a year of trailers and ads, Onward seemed like it had a bit of an identity crisis. First it seemed like it was going to take place in a big fantasy world, then it switched to a more true to modern day world. Were there dragons? Is there magic? It was hard to get a handle on it. By the time release was rolling around, we were a little disappointed at the idea of this modern day picture it was painting.
And ultimately that was how we felt after seeing it, though we still found many things to like and love about Onward. We would have much rather the entire movie be more bombastic and magical. But we get little glimpses of people and creatures remembering their magic along the way and that growth is kind of what the movie is all about. We really liked the two brothers and their story. Anyone with a good relationship with their brother or a parent they’ve lost will certainly find emotional pangs throughout.
Onward plays a bit more to the younger crowd than things like Up or Wall-E. It’s much more clearly laid out and easy to digest. It’s not Cars, but closer to Toy Story or a Bug’s Life than Inside Out. And we can’t fault it for that. They don’t need every one of their movies to play just as well to 5-year-olds as they play to the 30+ crowd. But they do that so well that it’s hard to not be just a little disappointed.
You should see Onward. It’s a great movie and you will enjoy it even as an adult. If the themes speak to you then you’re gonna cry. Just go in knowing that you most likely won’t be thinking philosophically about death, growing up, climate change, etc. It’s just a fun movie to splash around in for a couple hours. Have you seen Onward? Let us know what you thought over on Twitter and settle in to here our breakdown on today’s episode of So…I’m Watching This Show!
