Onward is a movie with a beautiful big brother/little brother relationship at its heart. And this relationship is my favourite thing about the latest Disney Pixar animated adventure starring Chris pratt, Tom Holland, Julia Louis-Dreyfus and Octavia Spencer.
Set in a suburban fantasy world, two teenage elf brothers set off on a quest to discover if there is still magic out there. A quest that neither could do without the other.
In terms of how much I enjoyed the story, I think Onward is OK. I wanted to have been more engrossed with it all, but there wasn’t enough newness to it, theme-wise. There wasn’t necessarily much animated cuteness either, but I doubt I’d have noticed that if I’d loved the way the story played from beginning to end.
It’s really the last third of director Dan Scanlon’s film that I enjoyed most. Before then, I was more than a little impatient for the results of the film’s central magic spell to manifest.
Other things I enjoyed about Onward include the fullness of Holland’s character Ian’s blue hair and what Scanlon’s film has to say about belief in general – but especially self belief and confidence.
As far as animated movies about sibling relationships go, particularly the big brother/little brother dynamic, my favourite will probably always be Big Hero 6 (2014).
If you’re curious, watch Onward because it’s not bad, and perhaps, you’ll find even more to love than I did.
Happy Film Loving,
G
