Onward (2020)

[ApathyMonger]

 

Onward is fun, if not top-tier Pixar. It starts out slow, and most of the beats are very predictable. It gets much better as it goes though, and the emotional stuff worked for me more than I expected. Chris Pratt is the best he’s been in years, and reminded me why I liked him in the first place. Octavia Spencer is great too.

There’s lots of easter eggs for people who are into D&D, etc, many of which went over my head. I was slightly distracted in some scenes looking at all the background jokes.

The Simpsons short before it is cute too. It’s only a few minutes, and there’s no dialogue so you won’t be distracted by how old the actors sound these days.

[Browncoat]

I saw this this afternoon, and I enjoyed it tremendously!  Lots of fun.  Not Pixar's best, but far far from the worst (<cough> The Good Dinosaur<cough>).

Octavia Spencer was great as The Manticore, especially in the pawn shop when they were retrieving the sword.  And I laughed out loud when the rock dragon had the face from the side of the school.  

Not as tear-jerky as many Pixar films are, either, although there are some very emotional bits near the end.

I'd rank it somewhere in the middle of the Pixar pack.

[AimingforYoko]

This was fine, clearly a cut above the lower-tier Pixar (Cars sequels and The Good Dinosaur). Holland and Pratt were good, and glad Julia Louis-Dreyfus had her own adventure as the mom. But I'm looking forward to Soul far more.

[Browncoat]

I’m looking forward to Soul as well, if only for the music!

[Guest]

Onward will be released for digital download tonight and on Disney+ April 3rd. 

[Spartan Girl]

Mom and I rented it and it was cute. Not the best Pixar movie, but just the one we needed right now.

The biker sprites were definitely the funniest part of the movie.

The ending with Ian letting Barley have the moment with their dad was so sweet. And I'm glad that even though they didn't exactly like the mom's centaur boyfriend, the writers didn't turn him into a bad guy or anything.

[Lola82]

We watched this today and I thought it was a pretty good movie. I loved the brothers’ relationship, especially little moments like Barley feeding Ian cheetos as they’re walking. It reminded me a bit of Frozen with the sisters.
I teared up several times, most surprisingly when Barley sacrificed his van. Loved the image of the parking tickets being like wings.

I was a little sad for mom that she didn’t get to reunite with dad...that was kind of glossed over.

[Scarlett45]

4 hours ago, Lola82 said:

We watched this today and I thought it was a pretty good movie. I loved the brothers’ relationship, especially little moments like Barley feeding Ian cheetos as they’re walking. It reminded me a bit of Frozen with the sisters.
I teared up several times, most surprisingly when Barley sacrificed his van. Loved the image of the parking tickets being like wings.

I was a little sad for mom that she didn’t get to reunite with dad...that was kind of glossed over.

I really liked this one! It’s at the top of the pack for me (with Inside Out & Wall•E). I love the exploration of deep non romantic relationships in film and this hit all the beats for me. I think it would be especially impactful for those that have lost a parent      .

 

I wasn’t so upset that Mom didn’t get to say anything with Dad. Given that he was sick (rather than dying in a sudden accident), I am sure they talked about things before he died, she raised the boys very well and moved on and has a boyfriend. Not that she didn’t love her husband and a piece of him will always be with her, but I think the boys needed that more than she did. And the older boy needed it more thank Ian. I liked that as a family they all worked together. 
 

I also loved Octavia Spencer as the manitore- she was pretty cool. And the sprites learned to fly again!!

6 hours ago, Spartan Girl said:

And I'm glad that even though they didn't exactly like the mom's centaur boyfriend, the writers didn't turn him into a bad guy or anything.

Yeah he wasn’t bad or mean just “Mom’s boyfriend” they didn’t quite understand. I thought that was pretty realistic. 

[Jediknight]

16 hours ago, Lola82 said:

I teared up several times, most surprisingly when Barley sacrificed his van. Loved the image of the parking tickets being like wings.

That was the part that got to me.  This movie didn't leave me an emotional wreck like some other Pixar movies, but that part got to me.  The parking tickets as wings, the tire popping which gave Guinevere a gallop, and the neighing.  A little bit of magic came back to make Guinevere a Pegasus and help the brothers.

Ian passing up the chance to meet his father made perfect sense.  Barley's quest was to get that one last moment with his dad, and to say good bye.  Ian's quest was to gain confidence, he didn't need to meet his dad for that, because he had Barley.

[Chyromaniac]

Weird that this is the latest movie I’ve watched online and in a theater....  In any case, I really enjoyed it.  As someone who plays a lot of D&D, I appreciated the references (although the credits say they had a Beholder that I don’t recall seeing- deleted scene?).  However there was also a lot I could relate to, especially Ian’s complicated relationship with his brother.  There always seems to be that guy like Barley at the table who make things more complicated than they need to be because of how they play, which can be exasperating.  At the same time, sometimes those can be the most memorable moments in a game.

[ElectricBoogaloo]

Producers Guild of America nomination!

Award for Outstanding Producer of Animated Theatrical Motion Pictures

“The Croods: A New Age” (DreamWorks Animation)
Producer: Mark Swift

“Onward” (Pixar)
Producer: Kori Rae

“Over the Moon” (Netflix)
Producers: Gennie Rim, Peilin Chou

“Soul” (Pixar)
Producer: Dana Murray

“Wolfwalkers” (Apple TV Plus/GKIDS)
Producers: Paul Young, Nora Twomey, Tomm Moore, Stéphan Roelants

[ElectricBoogaloo]

BAFTA nomination!

ANIMATED FILM
ONWARD Dan Scanlon, Kori Rae
SOUL Pete Docter, Dana Murray
WOLFWALKERS Tomm Moore, Ross Stewart, Paul Young
 

[ElectricBoogaloo]

Oscar nomination!

Best Animated Feature
“Onward”
“Over the Moon”
“Shaun the Sheep Movie: Farmageddon”
“Soul”
“Wolfwalkers”