One upside the Pandemic has given us, Disney moving this mediocre Pixar movie to Disney+ since movie theaters are shuttered indefinitely. I was glad because I saved money, Alamo isn’t cheap when anything doesn’t deliver. The first warning sign I saw was its delayed release. Originally slated for Thanksgiving/Xmas 2019 and then it was pushed back to Spring 2020, much like other stinkers…The Good Dinosaur and Brave.
The premise is built around a Fantasy world akin to D&D minus humans but all the magic and medieval tech have been replaced by 21st Century gizmos over the centuries. All the RenFaire trappings remain through the fonts on signs, the Tudor-style buildings regardless of function and mythical creatures everywhere but repurposed; e.g. unicorns behave in the same manner as raccoons.
Enter two brothers, Barley and Ian. Their father passed away before the younger Ian was born while Barley has decent memories for he was about three when dad passed. So for Ian’s 16th birthday, their father setup a visitation spell to be cast which permits him to return from the dead for 24 hours. The spell doesn’t work entirely leading to the brothers’ quest to find the means to recast before time runs out. Since Barley is fanatical about the world’s magical past, he’s the perfect guide to solve the dilemma.
If this were the typical dreck from Blue Sky, PDI and all the Pixar wannabes, Onward would be pretty decent. However, I hold Pixar to a higher standard of storytelling and execution and they just phoned it in. It’s no Cars or (worse) Cars 2 thankfully. It just isn’t on par with their recent successes Toy Story 4, Coco or Inside Out. I’m also tired of Chris Pratt. He needs to take a break from his overexposure and playing the same character.
Anything good? A couple cameos of D&D-trademarked monsters: the Gelatinous Cube and a Beholder. Voice actress Grey DeLisle getting a key guest spot. Julia Louis-Dreyfus returning was cool. Brandi Carlisle singing to the closing credits was a nice touch.
Still…I was rather bored and felt nothing. I hope Pixar re-assesses what’s next and figures out what made Coco work. I sense they won’t. The Pandemic is too convenient of an excuse for explaining why Onward tanked alongside Monsters University.