I finally saw Pixar’s Onward, and it was a very enjoyable and surprising film.
The story follows Ian, a young Elf, (one of two brothers) who after finding he has magic wizardly powers, attempts to revive his late father for a one-day revival spell. It goes wrong, of course, and the duo must set out on a mighty quest to find another Phoenix Gem needed to complete it.
This movie and it’s unique turns in the story really impressed me.
First of all, the setting being this modernized fantasy world was pretty cool. They managed to get some nice imagery and amusing references to the standard fantasy tropes of the various creatures in great ways. Unicorns are feral creatures who live off trash, centaurs have grown soft due to vehicles, as have pixies. And there’s a pretty big variety of fantasy creatures throughout.
The pairing of the two heroes – young Ian and Barley (played pretty well by Tom Holland and Chris Pratt) – actually has a relationship that doesn’t have much animosity between the two. It’s a very supportive brotherhood – especially from Barley, the older brother.
The most impressive bit is that the movie doesn’t fall into the common (and highly telegraphed) Jealousy trope. Not once does Barley get jealous of Ian’s magic ability, nor is it used to kick off a series of unfortunate hijinks or be the crux of the story. It was really refreshing to see.
The climax of the film takes an interesting twist, and the signature “Pixar is powered by your tears” moment is stand-out surprising as well.
So basically, as the lesson the main character learns in the film, is that he always wanted to spend time with his dad who he never got to see – but he realizes that Barley, his older brother, has been the one who has taught him and gave him such a happy life. Teaching him to ride a bike, drive a car on their quest, and just have fun together. So when the time comes that he has to choose between being there when his dad gets revived or not, he doesn’t stay!
I found that unique angle to the story really interesting, and definitely got me to shed a few tears.
There’s also a moment a few scenes before that, that touches upon loved ones being sick/in the hospital, and how that affects a child. The scene in question is where Barley regrets that he never saw his dad at the hospital one last time, because in all the machines he was hooked up to – and his sickness – it made him scared, and he wouldn’t enter the room. That was pretty heartbreaking and also a thought-provoking element to include in the film.
My favourite detail of the film has to be where the title is derived from (I guess).
Barley is driving the van at one point, and – being the huge fantasy fan and casual role-player that he is – says to put the car into the gear “Onward”, and you see the “D” in ‘Drive’ has been taped over with an “O” for ‘Onward’, because of course that’s the type of thing he’d do. Makes every journey in his van an adventure.
Eh, I thought that was a cute touch to one of the characters.
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