What to Watch - Onward

by Chelsea House, GGR Contributor

Warning: Mild Spoilers

Onward, the newest release from Disney and Pixar, is an incredible, clever, and emotional journey to partake in. The story’s main characters are Ian (Tom Holland, Spider-Man: Homecoming), his older brother Barley (Chris Pratt, Guardians of the Galaxy), their mother Laurel Lightfoot (Julia Luis-Dreyfus, Seinfeld), and a manticore named Corey (Octavia Spencer, Hidden Figures) . Ian is a shy 16 year old who is struggling with the same “who am I?” concept that every teenager is struggling with. Barley is a history fanatic, where history in their world is pretty much Dungeons and Dragons, and that is exactly what Barley uses to study and learn about their world’s rich past. Laurel is adventurous, brave, and tries to keep things as optimistic as possible for her children. Corey used to be the one to go to if you wanted a quest, now she runs a glorified medieval Chuck E. Cheese. 

The movie begins with Ian’s 16th birthday and his mother giving him and his brother a present from their deceased father which turns out to be an old wizard’s staff. With the staff is a spell to bring their father back for a day so he can see how his boys have grown which is all well and good until Ian messes up the spell and only brings back the bottom half of his father. In order to complete the spell, the staff needs a Phoenix Stone, and so our brother duo sets off on a quest to find said stone. If you’re not wanting ANY of the movie to be spoiled, then stop reading here and skip to the very bottom for my rating. Otherwise, brace yourself for some mild spoilers. 

Spoilers Begin

I wouldn’t give Onward a perfect score as I feel some of the characters were really flat in comparison to other Pixar movies. I thoroughly enjoyed Barley as he seemed the most natural out of the four. I almost wonder if Chris Pratt wasn’t tapping into an older version of himself. Laurel felt like she could have been a lot deeper of a character and just fell short. I appreciated her Momma Bear moments with her kids, but for her to be one of the main characters, and maybe because I am a Mom, I felt her character was just missing something that made her relatable. Some of Ian’s dialog also felt really predictable and less than natural or genuine. His character at times reminded me of Sesame Street’s Gonnigan character instead of a 16 year old kid on an epic quest. Let me stop here though to completely contradict myself. For every linear moment between Ian and Barley, there was a moment that threw you a complete emotional curve ball. And when I say emotional curve ball, I mean like, “why am I watching this movie?” kind of curve ball. These scenes definitely helped balance out the others which made you almost forget about them. Onward is also at its core, a road trip movie as most of it is spent in Barley’s noble “steed,” his van Gwenevere. Road trip movies are hard because so many of them feel like they have useless fillers to just keep the story going. You do have some of that in this movie, however, they don’t feel as pointless as they do in other similar movies. 

The story is about the brothers trying to find the Phoenix Stone to restore the rest of their father before the 24 hour time limit of the spell wears off. It’s about digging deep and being who you were meant to be. A lot of the creatures have forgotten how to fly, or run, or do the things that they were created to do. Barley is like a fevered priest running around the town reminding them of their glory days of old. By the end of the movie, the creatures are dropping their cars to run, or are stretching their wings to appreciate flight and the bewilderment of adventure. This could also be a nod to the way technology has simultaneously helped and harmed us. The story is about gaining confidence in yourself, learning to appreciate the roads less traveled, and more importantly, it’s about appreciating what you have right in front of you. Barley repeats multiple times “On a quest, you have to use what you’ve got...” and there is definite wisdom in those words. 

Spoiler End
My thoughts on this movie? I wouldn’t give it a perfect score, I think an 8/10 is fair, however I shared a lot of laughs and tears with Onward and will definitely put this on my watch again shelf. It was refreshingly clever and the kids, who are normally asking questions throughout films, were locked on tight. I definitely say to give this movie a watch. Just have tissues nearby. Trust me.