Historically, the best Disney/Pixar animated movies bridge the divide between adulthood and childhood. In “Soul,” Pixar and Disney+, tilt towards the former and discuss topics about the nature of life that can resonate more with adults than with the young ones.
Apart from this warning, veterans of Pixar, Pete Docter (“Up” and “Inside Out”), and co-director Kemp Powers (the author of the play and the next film, “One Night in Miami”), will be credited to the Pixar library that is deserving of its classics. Although the film was not a box office record breaker, it is difficult to not appreciate the idea of seeking to answer questions about death and what makes living worthwhile as interpreted via Joe Gardner’s dreams and hopes (voiced by Jamie Foxx).
If you haven’t seen the movie, be informed that there are spoilers ahead.
A professor of music in the middle school, Joe has spent his life trying to succeed as an artiste, working at the detriment of his career. When the opportunity unexpectedly arrives to live his fantasies, his distracted glance leads to his early death—a true bummer, as he had always said that he would die a happy man if he could perform with the artist who gave him the chance to do so.
Waking up on the escalator in the afternoon, Joe takes a desperate step to return to a very humorous tour of what could look like the beyond. Although this animation is typically lush, the actual design of the “souls” is circular and plain, much like the Poppin fresh doughboy, only a slightly creepy blue hue.
Waking up on the escalator in the afternoon, Joe takes a desperate step to return to a very humorous tour of what could look like the beyond. Although this animation is typically lush, the actual design of the “souls” is circular and plain, much like the Poppin fresh doughboy, only a slightly creepy blue hue.
Joe meets a young soul in what is known as The Great Before, 22 (Tina Fey), who has long been reluctant to embark on a journey to the earth amid a funny list of mentors, including a historical figure.
“Soul” continues laying little fry behind here, unless your preteen is capable of understanding jokes about George Orwell and Mother Teresa.
In the end, Joe and 22 make their way to Earth, but not in the way he had wished for (or form), leading to a series of madcap experiences as he tries to fulfill his life goal.
In this portion of the film, the conclusion really takes the whole premise home. The emotional essence of the experience resembles the opening sequence of ‘Up,’ which quietly chronicled the lifetime of passion and subsequent death, causing many adults to sob in theater (ah, theatres).
“Soul” also stars a fantastic score, as music is vital to the plot delivered with Jon Batiste Jazz compositions by Nine Inch Nails’ Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross, which are again not something that tykes on the couch enjoy to their full degree.
In addition to Foxx and Fey, Phylicia Rashad, Angela Bassett, Graham Norton and Daveed Diggs were included in the voice cast.
The notion of animation grappling with big, existential problems is naturally welcome, and the creative team “Soul” deserves tremendous praise for its effort. Yet it is believed that Pixar enjoyed such a box office stamp with movies like the “Toy Story” and the “Incredibles” franchises, making a direct-to-streaming gamut less a financial compromise.
“Soul” is, however, recommended – particularly for adults who might not otherwise be inclined – and a return into Pixar’s creation after the unsatisfactory “Onward.” Parents who just want to have a fun time, though, may want to watch at least once without their children who are naturally less conscious of the choices made and the roads not followed and where their own escalators may lead them.
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