'Soul' Ponders on the Meaning of Life

Like Onward, the Pixar film that was released in 2020 prior to it, Soul also has death as a major theme.  It follows Joe Gardner (Jamie Foxx), a music teacher who is passionate about jazz and has his sights on becoming a professional jazz pianist.  Soon after landing his dream gig, he accidentally falls down a manhole and dies.  Refusing to pass over to the “Great Beyond” (i.e. the afterlife) when his big break is on hand, he goes the opposite direction, and eventually finds himself in the “Great Before” – the spiritual realm where unborn souls are prepared before they start life on Earth.  There, he sees an opportunity to gain passage back to Earth by passing off as a mentor to 22 (Tina Fey), a cynical, adamant unborn soul who doesn’t want to start a life on Earth.

'Onward' Is a Surprisingly Suberb Family Movie

Pixar is one the best animation studios – if not the best – today.  Every time they have a new film about to be released, there’s much anticipation for it.  However, in the case of their latest offering Onward, I didn’t quite have the same excitement for it that I’ve had with most of their (non-Cars) films in the past.  A huge reason for this is that the trailers were not exactly effective in making it look appealing.  For some reason, it seemed like more of a Dreamworks Animation film than a Pixar film.

So, it was a delightful surprise to find it much smarter, more poignant, and more enjoyable than I thought it would be.  I found it quite superb.  Maybe it was because those trailers made me lower my expectations than usual, and thus, I liked it more than I should.  Regardless, it definitely has that legit Pixar spark and high quality.

'Toy Story 4' Reinforces the Franchise's Standing as the GOAT

For me, Toy Story 3 was the perfect way of ending the series.  Nonetheless, when it was announced that another sequel was being made, I was immediately down with it, because: a.) it wasn’t as if Toy Story 3 was already the last we saw of Andy’s Bonnie’s toys, as they actually starred in a couple of TV specials and short films set after Toy Story 3, which essentially left the door open for another installment anyway; and b.) this was freakin’ Toy Story – the GOAT of animated film franchises.  So, from the very start, I was expecting Toy Story 4 to be extremely worthwhile.  And as it turns out, it absolutely is!

'Incredibles 2' Has Been Well Worth the Wait

Finally!  The Parrs, everybody’s favorite superhero family (sorry, Fantastic Four), is back in action.  It took Pixar 14 years – a period wherein they manage to make three Cars movies that nobody asked for – to make it happen.  But, hey, better late than never, right?

‘Coco’ Strikes a Chord and Plucks Heartstrings

With every new Pixar movie, there are at least three things that are guaranteed about it.  First, the animation is going to be masterful, highly detailed, and gorgeous.  Second, at some point, it’ll pull your heartstrings and make your eyes well up with tears.  And, third, (save for maybe a Cars installment) it’s going to be a classic, or if not, at the very least, it’s going to be one of the year’s best animated films.

These three are true about Coco.  It’s a fantastic animated film – probably the best one I’ve seen this year.  It does an impeccable implementation of the Pixar formula, but at the same time, it’s also one of Pixar’s most original films – as well as one of its darkest and most mature.   It’s somewhat similarly themed with 2014’s Book of Life, but no way is it a copycat.  It’s an entirely different film.  It’s simply another case of Antz and A Bug’s Life – two good, distinctive films that just happen to share some common things about their respective premises.

'Cars 3' Earns a Podium Finish, but It Doesn't Have Much Left in the Tank

When the Cars 3 teaser trailer was released – in which there’s footage of Lightning McQueen crashing – everyone was intrigued.  It seemed to be going to a darker, more mature direction.  But that’s not the case.  It turned out being just another Cars movie.

'Finding Dory' Greatly Improves on 'Finding Nemo'

Finally, I got to watch Finding Dory.  Like most Pixar films, I thoroughly enjoyed its predecessor, Finding Nemo.  However, it’s not exactly one of my most favorite Pixar films, and a sequel is not at the top of my list of preferred Pixar follow-ups (at the top, by the way, are The Incredibles and Toy Story, which are both in the works.  Yay!). Hence, I wasn’t really looking forward to Finding Dory that I missed watching it when it first got released in theaters earlier this year.

Finding Dory is set a year after the events of Finding Nemo (while in real life, it took 13 years before the sequel got made, that Nemo had to be recast since the original voice actor had obviously grown up).  Dory (Ellen DeGeneres), the regal blue tang fish suffering from short term memory loss, has now been living with Marlin (Albert Brooks) the overprotective clownfish and his son Nemo (Hayden Rolence).  One day, an occurrence triggers Dory to recall her past, that she has parents, and she decides to look for them.  Empathizing on her situation, Marlin and Nemo proceed to help and accompany her.  Their journey brings them to the Marine Life Institute in California, wherein Dory encounters old friends like Destiny (Kaitlin Olson) the near-sighted whale shark, and meets new ones like Hank (Ed O’Neill) the snappy, camouflaging, seven-tentacled octopus (“septopus”), as she gets one step closer to the family reunion she is aching for.

Pixar Delivers Yet Another Fantastic Film With 'The Good Dinosaur'

Pixar continues its streak of great quality animated features with The Good Dinosaur, a film about a juvenile Apatosaurus named Arlo who gets washed away many miles downriver and has to embark on a perilous, life-changing journey back home to his family while being accompanied by a newfound friend – a feral, orphaned boy named Spot.

The Good Dinosaur is far from equaling Pixar’s earlier offering this year, Inside Out.  However, it is nonetheless fantastic.

Its best attribute is the incredible animation.  The environment is gorgeously rendered and seamlessly detailed that it looks very realistic.  However, the cartoony depiction of the characters, especially the dinosaurs, is somewhat out of place with the realistic environment.  But it’s easy to get over this minor flaw.  Overall, this movie is delicious to watch.

The story is pretty good as well, but it’s not quite original.  There are some significant plot details that reminded me of Lion King and The Land Before Time.  Still, it has a rewarding amount of charm, depth, feels, and humor in its narrative.  And for a generally family-friendly movie (i.e. targeted for kids), it has some surprising adult-oriented facets.

Also, I notably liked the themed personalities of the dinosaurs.  The movie features Apatosaurus farmers, Tyrannosaurus cowboys, Velociraptor hillbilly-bandits, Pterodactyl cultists, and a Styracosaurus guru.  I find this aspect very clever.

I had a great time with The Good Dinosaur.  It’s a superb animated feature, though it does not offer enough to bring itself among Pixar’s elite.

'Inside Out' Rivals 'Toy Story' Movies As Pixar's Magnum Opus

If I will be writing now my list for best movies of the year, Inside Out will take the number one spot.  Of course, it is possible that I would still get to see a movie this year that I will deem better.  However, if I’m rating movies, I will give Inside Out a perfect score – an A+, or a 100%, or five stars out of five.  So it would take something so awesomely flawless to unseat Inside Out.  And looking at the movies left this year, I think Star Wars is the only potential contender.

Inside Out tells the story of 11-year-old Riley and the anthropomorphized emotions living in her head – Joy, Sadness, Fear, Disgust, and Anger.  Riley’s emotions do a fine job in keeping Riley’s life steady and happy… until Riley’s family moves from Minnesota to San Francisco.  With Riley struggling to adjust to her new life, it is up to Joy and the other emotions to guide her through this stressful, life-changing period.

It’s not the first time that a story used the concept of the human brain as a world or command center with personifications of emotions/neurons/cells/thoughts working inside it.  But Inside Out uses the concept in such a fresh, enjoyable, and vibrant manner that it has established itself as the best of such stories.  It presents some innocent but smart insights on human psychology, and succeeds in delightfully embodying some of its concepts in amusing fantasy models and metaphors.

Beautiful animation and a well-written, funny, and heartwarming story are things to be expected from a Pixar feature.   But Inside Out is truly special.  It is superior to most Pixar movies.  Up, Wall-E, and The Incredibles are all terrific timeless classics, but I really think Inside Out is better than them.  No other Pixar film since Toy Story 3 has the thoughtfulness, storytelling depth, and feels that Inside Out possesses.  The Toy Story movies are still my favorite Pixar films – these movies made much impact on me – but if somebody say that Inside Out is better, I won’t correct them.  Inside Out truly makes a strong case of being Pixar’s best.

Inside Out is brilliant and flawless.  The quality of this movie is comparable to the best of animated classics as it will effortlessly make its audiences laugh, cry, reflect, and feel warm and good inside.  And that makes the best kind of family entertainment.

Miscellaneous SPOILER-y musings:

• I also did love Lava, the touching short that run before Inside Out.  Really did a fine job of prepping the audience’s emotions and attention for Inside Out.
• An Inside Out short is coming later this year telling the story of Riley on her first date.  And I guess a full-length sequel is something eventual to happen.  Now, I’m curious what kind of storyline can surpass, or at least match, the perfectness of the first one.  Will it be better if Riley’s story continue after a significant time skip? In high school? Or even college? Will additional emotions be appearing in Riley’s later years?  (Though I doubt that, since it was seen that adults also have the same 5-emotion lineup as 11-year-old Riley.)  I really have no idea how Pixar can expand Inside Out further and offer something unique from the first one.  But I guess if anyone can do it, it’s those Pixar guys.  If it could be a sequel better than the original, then Inside Out could be the next Toy Story property.
• A character, Bing Bong, Riley’s forgotten imaginary friend from her younger years, basically died in this movie.  A character death in a “G”-rated animated feature isn’t really something disturbing or impossible.  But I wasn’t expecting a character to die in this movie.  It was a shock, but the development added additional depth to the story.
• Later, a bunch of “imaginary boyfriends” – who declared that they “would die for Riley” – actually sacrificed their lives.    Again, not really too disturbing.  But this is just an indication that Inside Out has some subtly dark elements.  And, again, it adds additional depth.
• But the most interesting shocker was the implication that the whole ordeal had put Riley at risk of becoming a sociopath.  Exagerrated, but definitely improved the movie.
• This made me want a more mature story taking place in the Inside Out world to be made.  In the ending credits, we get fascinating and funny glimpses of what’s going on in the minds of different kinds of people as well as a dog and a cat.  Now, what’s more interesting is to Inside Out the mind of a person with a mental disorder, like schizophrenia or multiple personality disorder.  Very intriguing, eh?