hold on to your butts I'm about to he
below two preys on a Pixar movie yes
with every fandom there are fans who
will never admit when what they love
does something wrong right and Pixar
certainly has its Pixar rights right but
I've never been one of them and I was in
fact one of the first people to call
them out on their blatant emotional
manipulation like story was second
making you cry was first but over the
past few years a lot of people have come
around and been like you will right
grace Pixar is most interested in making
me cry so I've had like a love-hate
relationship with the studio over the
past few years and when I wanted to see
onward my expectations were not high
despite you know it's weird there are a
lot of movies coming out right now that
are very poorly advertised that you're
like no way that's good and then you see
it and you're like wow that's amazing
Hollywood's doing the work but there's a
disjoint because people are going to see
it I hope well some of these movies the
jury is still out but we'll see but I
love this movie
alright so onward of course is about
magic and speaking of magic all word
recaptures the original Pixar magic that
made the animation studio an innovator
in the industry and so obviously the
future of animation the Disney held Toy
Story 2 hostage in order to force Pixar
to agree to be acquired Oh Hollywood and
I'll turn that gray side note I want to
be fair though I also really enjoyed
cocoa which was just a few years ago so
the argument that many have made that
Pixar needs to keep making original
films as well as sequels is hard to
argue with at this point I mean the
samples are good some of them are very
good but they don't blow you away like
the originals and this movie blew me
away house I got my god the feels it was
amazing
dan scanlon by the way speaking of bad
Pixar sequels he's behind monsters
University probably the worst or one of
the worst Pixar movies ever made and
then even goes and makes this I mean
part of it you know they say write what
you know and this is a very
personal movie for dan scanlon because
his own father passed away when you know
before he could have any memories of him
and so I think that really maybe makes
this more authentic as a story and what
dan scanlon wanted to say and boy does
he say it but another important lesson
to get from this movie not the movie
itself but the making of the movie is
that you should always hear someone out
especially if you're a development
executive because you never know where a
good idea might be coming from because
they were like hey the guy from monsters
University who has another idea for a
movie you know you would think you'd be
like nah tell them I'm busy but never be
wrong because this is phenomenal
all right so anyway something else that
Pixar apart in the early days from other
Animation Studios was it it produced
animation for adults
I mean sure kids could watch these are
colorful and cute animated movies but
they were really for adults like when my
family went to see Finding Nemo in the
days before assigned seating
we were scouring the very crowded
theater for four seats together and it
struck me as we did this that the
theater was mostly full of adults
without kids and it's something that I
remember vividly to this day I can see
there's one image of the theater and I
have to say it really was nice for me to
see that adults were taking an animated
movie so seriously I thought that was
great I mean that happened a little bit
with the Disney Renaissance too with
adults going although I had no idea what
was in store for taking the things I
loved seriously with comic book movies
that was so great it still it's great
animation I think is I hit a little bit
of a rough patch but back I hope they
don't like I don't know if anyone's
gonna see onward but onward should fix
that rough patch if there was any
justice in the world all right so back
to onward onward is probably Pixar's
interestingly enough most most adult
oriented film yet there were two little
kids behind me at the press screening
and they sure talked a lot before the
movie started terrifying the rest of us
and they would talk through the entire
film the little girl was kicking my seat
I was like don't say anything she's
excited to see the movie she stopped and
both she and her brother actually
stopped talking and watched the movie
very quietly I mean occasionally they
like for instance one one one character
came home one was like mom and the kid
was like
mom and I everyone laughed and thought
it was cute because you know they were
engaged you know occasionally they would
like a unicorn mermaid but you know they
see you know they seem to be watching it
but you know despite the fact that it
held their attention it's hard for me to
believe that they could appreciate and
understand the very complex adult
lessons of the film
I mean we're chopped and there's a lot
it's not just one dealing with the to
soon loss of a loved one we'll talk
about the sadness in a moment how fear
can ruin your life I thought that was
incredibly well explored through
multiple characters
I loved that that was a lot of the big
takeaways for me and on that note how
scary it is to learn to drive one of my
favorite lines in the movie it was in
barley tells Ian to merge that might not
sound like it's great but I don't want
to ruin it for you you're gonna love it
plus the complex emotions we have
towards the people in our lives and then
also this was a great one by the way
that last one is so big but I don't want
to give anything away I don't want to
give anything away but also how people
in society itself can be tempted to take
the easy way out instead of challenging
ourselves all I loved that one too but
as you can see I'm an adult now so I did
appreciate and understand all the
nuances of this film I loved it
I thought it was great and again it's
pretty big of me to like the movie so
much it's a big deal because I've been
upset with Pixar over the last few years
and I felt they have been emotionally
manipulating audiences I was like just
resurrecting the bottom half of the dad
as I said in my trailer reactions I was
like how could you be so cruel but I
haven't seen the film it actually all
makes sense now yes
onward made me cry like tears streaming
down my face in the theater I was
blubbering it was bad ah take tissues
but I felt I was not angry because I
felt it was done organically I thought
it served the story and the messages of
the film and I did wonder if maybe the
movie was unnecessarily sad I was like
did you have to go all the way there but
then the more I thought about it the
more I felt that having one day with
their father at stake raises the stakes
as it would be hard for anything else to
do
also it organically leads to I mean it
sets the characters on a path to some
amazing personal revelations it really
is a journey it's a quest and that blew
again that blew me away I didn't see it
coming but when it did come it fit
together
beautifully just as it dawned on the
characters I was like oh my god
also again while having only the bottom
half of their dad seems quite cruel at
first the reality and we were all
wondering also how the movie would deal
with this is that there is no spell to
bring back loved ones from the dead even
for just 24 hours and I think this film
actually finds very clever ways to honor
that even in a magical setting and that
includes part of that it's resurrecting
the bottom half of their dad do they
ever get to see the top half I'm not
telling you you'll have to see the movie
but again overall I was very impressed
with how responsibly this emotional
layout land our land minefield was
traversed there is magic in this movie
though quite a pinch of magic I loved it
and to see it done in a realistic
setting the suburbs made you feel that
maybe you could wield magic too I was
like where do I get me one of those
staffs it looks so cool
I mean with all the superpower
movies and TV shows that are out there
right now I'm like maybe magic is the
next big thing because it was fun to
watch there's one scene at the end where
for a brief shining moment
Ian really uses his wizard powers and I
was like I hope enough people see this
so I get a damn sequel I need a sequel
and I think Disney is worried about
people seeing this movie as well as they
should be again they haven't done a
great job advertising it the review
embargo is lifting two weeks early and
next Saturday at 3 p.m. there are
advanced screenings across the country
here in the United States to try and get
the word out Disney never does that I
think the only times I've recently seen
that done are How to Train Your Dragon 3
and Aquaman they're like really trying
to get the word out on this and I think
I think it could work
because people are gonna although I feel
some people are just not gonna believe
it because the advertising was so bad
but I feel Disney's pain in that regard
because having now seen on word it's a
very difficult film to promote because
it's full of surprises
but I think we're best discovered in the
theater the only thing I feel they
should have highlighted more is that
well actually really even showed up I
don't think it was really shown at all
in the advertisement is that barley is
really into a Dungeons & Dragons type
game only in this world that game is
based on actual history making barley a
great guide to introduce his brother to
the world of magic and quests as they
set off on one that was really clever I
thought that was and check particularly
considering when people like Dungeons
and Dragons this idea that what if it
was based on real stuff was really cool
and I think the ad campaign for this
movie should have done that basically it
should have been pitched as suburban
Lord of the Rings and that that sounds
really cool and it's executed flawlessly
and Disney just didn't get that across
and their ad campaign unfortunately so
I'm trying the best I can't here the
animation of course couldn't be better
with Pixar once again delivering
settings that could almost be
live-action you're like that tape deck
looks real ohyou're comes the cartoon
finger to press the play button and the
character works speaking of those
cartoon characters is both nuanced and
hilarious there is a drunk driver gag
very responsibly done don't worry that
is one of the best bits of physical
comedy I've ever seen my audience roared
with laughter so funny Tom Holland and
Chris Pratt are both in top form here if
each exhibiting the qualities that have
made them fan favorite movie stars like
wow like if you like Tom Holland and
Chris Pratt you will like them here
because they are out there they're
absolutely get absolute best Julia
louis-dreyfus and Octavia Spencer also
get a surprising amount of screen time
and on that note I would like to add
that well this movie's lead characters
are Chris Pratt and Tom Holland the
movie actually is incredibly inclusive
not only did Julia Louie Dreyfus and
Octavia Spencer have great roles for
female characters I love that the mom
was not sidelined
in the film I thought that was
incredible incredible to see but Lina
wife has a cameo as a lesbian police
officer who talks about her girlfriend
some of you who have been like could
they cut it out for foreign audiences
and unfortunately they could change it
in the dub but I think it's a really
step forward especially you know from
you know the bling can you miss it
representation and uh you know finding
dory but here this is an actual line
it's an actual character defined
character whose part of the part of the
action part of the group I mean a lot of
different ethnic groups are also
represented in this movie for instance
at the beginning of the film
Ian runs into one of his father's old
college classmates was clearly Latino
and here's the best part this has never
highlighted the movie never Pat's itself
on the back and says oh don't you think
this is great these characters all just
simply coexist in the same community and
it is really beautiful to see sadly that
might be the most fairy tale part of
onward but it's also the part that we
have the best chance of actually making
a reality this is what we want to see
out of Hollywood not scolding audiences
or trying to push them to do things but
just presenting the world as it could be
and you see how great it is and you say
yeah let's do that I thought it was
wonderful and so there's so much stuff
out of here this is great I mean go with
Pixar on this quest I got so much out of
this movie not only is a piece of
entertainment but also in terms of so
many so many life messages it's just a
whole spell book of life messages by the
way I want that spell book in the movie
and that's cool little illustrations in
it I was like and they show it just
briefly but I was like was like but it's
like a how-to book of magic with like
little diagrams and things with like
Disney style drawing and I was like
you're gonna publish this right cuz I'd
like to buy it one thing I will say
because I think it's so important is
that I liked the idea that you could
only do magic in this world if you had
self-confidence and I thought that was
really great because you can really do
magic in your own life if you have
self-confidence to see how great this
movie is go see it alright so that's my
review of onward share your own thoughts
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