Onward (2020)

This was probably the only movie I had been planning to see in a theater until the shutdown. I have since consoled myself by recalling how family fare tends to draw noisy kids.

The setting is populated entirely with the folk and fauna of European myths and legends, but the diverse civilization's modern technology has supplanted traditional wizardry, and the thirst for quests has given way to more secure living. On his 16th birthday, suburban elf Ian (Tom Holland) receives a posthumous set of gifts from his father, who died of an unspecified illness before they could meet: a staff, a phoenix gem, and instructions to cast a spell to let Dad materialize for 24 hours. Ian does turn out to possess an innate magical aptitude that his college-age brother, Barley (Chris Pratt), lacks, but something goes wrong with the spell, and only Dad's clad lower half appears, showing signs of intelligence but sensing the world only by touch. Unsatisfied, the brothers drive off with their leashed half-dad to hunt for a second phoenix gem before the next sunset, Ian half-trusting Barley's knowledge from a history-inspired role-playing game to have sufficient basis in their reality.

Oh, and they take no phones (at least one got broken in the magic misfire) and leave an ambiguous note for Mom (Julia Louis-Dreyfus). She pieces together enough clues to go after them, knowing that their quest, even in a relatively safe era, has its perils. Many scenes without the boys focus on her, her gawky centaur police beau Colt (Mel Rodriguez), and/or The Manticore (Octavia Spencer), a new contact who dates back to the legendary period but has undergone a huge identity crisis or two.

This being a journey tale, the brothers do some growing while their father can't. It's more obvious with Ian, who has been cripplingly shy at school and wants to be more like Dad, whatever that entails. He also learns spells as he goes, albeit with annoyance at Barley's style of guidance. Barley is a bit of a cavalier, irresponsible jerk, and it is largely under his influence that the trio gets into legal or other trouble. But through their trials and tribulations, he proves to care enough to make sacrifices for Ian.

You may have your reservations about the premises. Studying spells may not be as easy, safe, or widely accessible as using machinery, but when there's no evidence that any device could resurrect someone long dead even for a day, why abandon magic altogether? And would winged beings really stop flying because they have motor vehicles? Well, it may help to consider how lazy we've gotten at doing arithmetic and remembering phone numbers since we adopted smartphones.

Anyway, the combination of pseudo-medieval fantasy tropes and 21st-century familiarity does advance the humor a little, even if half the gags pertain to personalities bouncing off each other or Dad bouncing off other things. It kinda made me wish for more than the allotted 102 minutes to examine the world. This is one of the more inventive Pixar setups. Indeed, the climax involves possibly the most original dragon I've ever seen.

The action in general? Pretty well balanced between quiet and moderately intense. The magic lessons, while never done without need, tend to be more antic than frantic. If game-like fantasy sequences aren't your thing, you might get more out of a couple car chases. FWIW, the ladies somehow tend to get the awesome moments.

Or you may prefer the more serious emotional aspects. There's that Disney/Pixar capacity to hit me in the feels again. It might be extra appropriate for a pandemic year.

I consider Onward one of the better Pixar efforts. I hope it goes, well, onward to a sequel, tho that's likely to be more than a decade away.