Review - Onward (2020)

        Hey guys, Chuck here. With everything going on in the world with COVID-19, there were a few releases in March that I missed out on. One of those films was Pixar's newest film: Onward. While Onward was in theaters, unfortunately the theaters have all been closed,  which led Disney to release the film on VOD early, followed by a release to Disney+ just this weekend. So, now that I've watched it on Disney+, let's take a look at Onward. 

        The movie focuses on brothers Ian and Barley Lightfoot. Ian is a bit of a social outcast with very little self-confidence,while Barley is obsessed with history and role-playing games. On the day of Ian's sixteenth birthday, the two brothers receive a gift from their late father, who died before Ian was born. The gift is a wizard's staff, along with a spell to bring back their father for one day. Unfortunately, the spell goes awry and only the bottom half of their father is brought back. Ian and Barley, in order to bring back the rest of their father, go on a  quest to find a gemstone to complete the staff and bring their father back. So do the brothers complete their quest and spend time with their resurrected father? Give the movie a watch to find out.

        One of the thins I like about Onward is the performances of Tom Holland and Chris Pratt as Ian and Barley. Both actors, known for their Marvel Cinematic Universe roles of Spider-Man and Star-Lord, gave stellar performances in this movie and are easily a highlight for me. Julia Louis-Dreyfus and Octavia Spencer were also enjoyable in their roles as well. I also admire the blending of fantasy elements with modern world elements in this movie, and I feel that the mix of the two creates a very unique world that stands out from other fantasy worlds previously seen. However, I feel at times that Onward plays the fantasy angle too safe, feeling more like a road trip comedy than an epic fantasy quest. I definitely feel that this was made more for kids, but I enjoyed it nonetheless. This is definitely one to watch on Disney+ for a family movie night. I'm going to give Onward a rating of 4.5/5. This is Chuck signing off. See you guys next time.

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