In march 2020 pixar released a movie titled Onward. Let's see what I think about it.
So this movie is good. Not great but good. The animation is great (like every pixar movie except for the ones made in the 90's). They are continuing their approach of making everything pretty much photo realistic except for the characters. As usual the animation tells you what you need to know about the main characters and I don't know how Pixar does that even in their weaker films. There isn't much more to say about the animation. It's Pixar, you know it's going to be great, let's move on.
The voice acting is also good, probably because the characters in the film are close to the actors in real life. For example Ian is a quiet and shy character. Who does that remind you of? Exactly (Tom Holland). And Barley is an outgoing goofball. Who does that remind you of? You get the idea (if you didn't know it's Chris Pratt). The voice acting is good. It honestly wouldn't surprise me if pixar just told them to play themselves. Okay they didn't but they clearly based the characters around them. Or they made the characters and realized that Ian and Barley are pretty much Tom Holland and Chris Pratt respectively, I don't know.
The characters are pretty good. There are two brothers. I already talked about the characters when I talked about the voice acting. It is a pretty common set of two characters but I mean there is a reason it is done a lot. It does work. I mean they aren't Mike and Sully but it works well enough. There is not a lot to say about the characters, they are just good. So let's get to you could say my problem (?) with the film.
The plot is the biggest problem with the film. It isn't even bad, just very predictable. I don't think my expectations even got close to being subverted in the film. Since I have seen a movie before I can somewhat predict what will happen in a movie. I pretty much knew the plot by heart before I even watched the movie. It is very linear. The emotional moments happen where you expect them to, the conflict happens where you would expect it to. You already know this plot even if you haven't seen the movie.
Another thing I noticed is that it doesn't feel like a pixar film. Not because it is one of their weaker films but more the topic. The idea seems too complicated for pixar. In most of their movies they take a simple idea and expand on it to make it more interesting.In Onward they take a not so simple idea and expand on it to make it more interesting. Maybe simple isn't the right word. I guess a better word would be basic. Not in a bad way but just one idea. Onward is a fantasy story except people don't use magic anymore. What I am saying is it is kind of a loaded idea compared to some of the other Pixar films. It isn't a problem and doesn't mark it down in my head, just an observation.
This movie is good. The animation is good, the acting is good. But the movie somewhat falters with a predictable plot.
So this movie is good. Not great but good. The animation is great (like every pixar movie except for the ones made in the 90's). They are continuing their approach of making everything pretty much photo realistic except for the characters. As usual the animation tells you what you need to know about the main characters and I don't know how Pixar does that even in their weaker films. There isn't much more to say about the animation. It's Pixar, you know it's going to be great, let's move on.
The voice acting is also good, probably because the characters in the film are close to the actors in real life. For example Ian is a quiet and shy character. Who does that remind you of? Exactly (Tom Holland). And Barley is an outgoing goofball. Who does that remind you of? You get the idea (if you didn't know it's Chris Pratt). The voice acting is good. It honestly wouldn't surprise me if pixar just told them to play themselves. Okay they didn't but they clearly based the characters around them. Or they made the characters and realized that Ian and Barley are pretty much Tom Holland and Chris Pratt respectively, I don't know.
The characters are pretty good. There are two brothers. I already talked about the characters when I talked about the voice acting. It is a pretty common set of two characters but I mean there is a reason it is done a lot. It does work. I mean they aren't Mike and Sully but it works well enough. There is not a lot to say about the characters, they are just good. So let's get to you could say my problem (?) with the film.
The plot is the biggest problem with the film. It isn't even bad, just very predictable. I don't think my expectations even got close to being subverted in the film. Since I have seen a movie before I can somewhat predict what will happen in a movie. I pretty much knew the plot by heart before I even watched the movie. It is very linear. The emotional moments happen where you expect them to, the conflict happens where you would expect it to. You already know this plot even if you haven't seen the movie.
Another thing I noticed is that it doesn't feel like a pixar film. Not because it is one of their weaker films but more the topic. The idea seems too complicated for pixar. In most of their movies they take a simple idea and expand on it to make it more interesting.In Onward they take a not so simple idea and expand on it to make it more interesting. Maybe simple isn't the right word. I guess a better word would be basic. Not in a bad way but just one idea. Onward is a fantasy story except people don't use magic anymore. What I am saying is it is kind of a loaded idea compared to some of the other Pixar films. It isn't a problem and doesn't mark it down in my head, just an observation.
This movie is good. The animation is good, the acting is good. But the movie somewhat falters with a predictable plot.