Disney Pixar has been working their way into our hearts for over two decades now, they’ve showed us what our toys did when we left the room, what the monsters in our closet are really like, how our emotions can get away from us and now they bring us a magical road trip adventure with Onward.
Fresh off of the success of Avengers:Endgame, Tom Holland and Chris Pratt star as elf brothers Ian and Barley Lightfoot who live in the magical land of New Mushroomton. On his sixteenth birthday, Ian Lightfoot (Tom Holland) wants to fit in and be normal but is having trouble speaking to the other kids in his school but he realises he needs to be a man. Their mother Laurel (Julia Louis Dreyfus) informs the boys that their father left them something before his death. With the use of this new staff, they realise they have a magical staff and are able to bring their father back for one day. Ian casts the spell but something goes wrong and they boys only bring back the bottom half of their father. In order to bring their father back before sunset the boys must go on a quest to find the phoenix gem in order to bring their father back for one day.
Disney Pixar are known for tugging at our heartstrings and this movie is definitely no exception. The animation quality in this movie is at an all time high, the world that Kori Rae and Dan Scanlon created is similar to that of Pandora in Avatar mixed with a little bit of Zootopia and Monstropolis from past Disney films Zootopia and Monsters Inc.. Chris Pratt is definitely the MVP of this film as Barley Lightfoot he made me laugh every time he said anything. Tom Holland also gives a strong performance as Ian Lightfoot but his character in this film is not that far from Peter Parker from the MCU. The whole voice cast is strong with Julia Louis Dreyfus playing a worrying mother who chases her sons trying to keep them safe and Octavia Spencer surprises the audience playing Corey the manticore. The movie starts and you feel like the movie will go down a typical road like any other road trip movie but it takes a slight turn and you wind up leaving the movie feeling warm and happy with the outcome.
Disney Pixar has shown us so many stories with various different memorable characters and we can Outward to that line up. It is a magical, adventurous road trip movie that is fun, funny and heartfelt from start to finish.
Rating: 4.5/5
