Onward

Movie Review

Onward is a fun adventure story about two brothers going on a quest. It does this balancing act of being both modern but also mythical. It reminds me of Zootopia, because Zootopia shows a world where the animal kingdom creates a humanized society, and Onward is essentially a world where mythical creatures create a humanized society. The world of Onward is one in which everything used to be magical (unicorns, witches, elves), but after technology and consumerism makes life easier, the world is now just like the modern society we see today with grocery stores, freeways, high schools, etc. But once that background premise is set, the main story is about family, friendship, and love.

I thought Onward was a really fun movie - it seems to flow well from scene to scene and there were moments of humor and drama sprinkled in here and there. I found one scene at the end to be a tearjerker and super heartwarming, so audiences will definitely feel the emotions while watching as well. At the same time, I did not find Onward to be particularly special or a top notch Pixar movie, because Pixar has already set the bar ridiculously high. Because while the adventure, the friendship, and the love is all there, something about it doesn’t feel as thought-provoking as other movies like Inside Out or even Ratatouille. I feel like those movies had a big heart and soul to them, but Onward feels more like a well-executed and adorable adventure story but with less of a deep, underlying meaning to it. Even from the trailers, a lot of my friends would remark that this movie doesn’t really seem to sell itself as a “must-watch.” I wouldn’t be emphatically recommending it to everyone, but I definitely think it’s a cute and heartwarming movie.