If
there was even remotely a downside to the wondrous prospect of getting two
Pixar films in a single year, it would be the fact that the more well-received
entry of the two always ends up overshadowing the other. To be fair, though, this
is never the films’ fault as it’s just the natural consequence of the
consistently competitive nature of the film industry. Still, there’s no denying
that this scenario has very much happened before whenever Pixar releases
multiple films in a year. Whereas 2015’s Inside Out was their biggest
hit in years, The Good Dinosaur was their first major commercial flop. And
in 2017, all eyes were on the two-time Oscar winner that was Coco, thus
leaving the decent Cars 3, a genuinely superior follow-up to what ended
up being Pixar’s first critical dud (2011’s Cars 2), in the dust. Sure
enough, this is something that will probably happen this year as well, which
began with the release of Dan Scanlon’s Onward, a film that, despite
being royally screwed over by COVID from a financial perspective did solidly
with critics but not quite as well as Soul has fared with them. To
reiterate, though, everything that I’ve said in this intro is not meant to be a
dig against Soul; I mean, seriously, how could I when it’s the latest
outing from one of Pixar’s most prolific directors, Pete Docter. Simply put, Pixar’s
newly appointed Chief Creative Officer has been responsible for some of their
most critically acclaimed releases such as the previously mentioned Inside
Out, his directorial debut from 2001, Monsters Inc, and 2009’s Up
AKA the second-ever animated film in history to be nominated for Best
Picture at the Oscars after Beauty and the Beast. And sure enough, he
delivers yet another beautifully animated and emotionally poignant masterpiece
with Soul.
Joe
Gardner (voiced by Jamie Foxx) is a part-time music teacher in New York City
who, despite being offered a full-time teaching gig, primarily aspires to
become a jazz musician just like his late father. Luckily for him, he manages
to earn an opportunity to achieve that dream when he impresses legendary jazz
performer Dorothea Williams (voiced by Angela Bassett) enough for her to invite
him to perform with her band. Unfortunately for Joe, his big break is then
immediately upended when he ends up in an accident that puts him on a one-way
ticket to the Great Beyond. However, Joe’s insistence that it isn’t his time
results in him escaping into the exact opposite dimension, the Great Before,
where all new human souls are molded into the personalities that they’ll become
once they arrive on Earth. It is there that Joe meets 22 (voiced by Tina Fey), a
soul who has been stuck in the Great Before for quite some time because of her
cynical outlook on life on Earth that has kept her from finding the ‘spark’
that completes a soul’s identity. And once he figures out that he’s still alive
on Earth, Joe teams up with 22 to try and get him back into his body so that
his life won’t end up being a complete waste of his potential; in the process,
Joe even begins to convince 22 of all the great things that life has to offer.
While
it’s probably easy to compare this film to Pete Docter’s last project, Inside
Out, it should be noted that Soul is far from being a ‘clone’ of
that film. Instead, I’d describe it as a ‘spiritual companion’ piece since both
films focus on the things that make us humans tick, albeit through different methods.
In the case of Inside Out, this was, of course, by way of it exploring
the concept of one’s emotions, thus showcasing the importance of all facets of
the emotional spectrum rather than just a single emotional trait. As for Soul…
well, the title speaks for itself as Docter and co-director Kemp Powers do a
fantastic job of tackling themes such as finding one’s purpose in life and the
unique things that folks are passionate about. This naturally results in a lot
of great emotional moments which, to be fair, is something that you can always
expect to see in a Pixar film but are arguably even more powerful here given
the subject matter and how it encourages us all to live our lives to the
fullest. And as to be expected from a Pixar film, Soul sports some
terrific animation, especially when it comes to the wonderfully abstract
landscape that is the Great Before where the counselors who oversee everything
are presented as if they’re two-dimensional beings in this computer-animated
feature. Plus, the entire film is bolstered by a great collection of delightful
jazz tunes from the Late Show with Stephen Colbert’s Jon Batiste.
One
long-standing Pixar tradition that Soul dutifully maintains is the well-layered
lead duo that headlines the story; in this instance, we have Joe Gardner and Soul
#22, who easily take their place alongside other classic Pixar duos such as
Woody and Buzz Lightyear from the Toy Story series and Mike and Sulley
from Monsters Inc. As Joe, Jamie Foxx does a great job in making the
aspiring jazz musician a solidly likable protagonist even with all the
instances where his lofty aspirations end up clouding his judgment to the point
where he makes some selfish decisions. And as 22, Tina Fey is a natural fit for
the role of Joe’s hilariously snarky sidekick who ends up getting just as many
great emotional beats as he does since her sarcastic persona is revealed to be
masking an incredibly sympathetic backstory. Soul also has plenty
of another Pixar staple, memorable supporting characters, and while I do think
that this is another instance like Onward where the story largely focuses
more on Joe and 22 than anyone else, that doesn’t mean that we don’t get a
bunch of fun side characters. U.K. talk-show host Graham Norton, for example, is
an utter delight as Moonwind, an eccentric sign twirler on Earth who also helps
save lost souls in the Great Before. There’s also plenty of reliable supporting
players such as Rachel House as Terry, the official soul counter of the Great
Beyond who tries to locate Joe when he goes missing, Alice Braga and Richard
Ayoade as two of the Counselors in the Great Before (who, for the record, are
all named Jerry), and Phylicia Rashad as Joe’s overbearing mother Libba.
I
realize that what I’m about to say will probably be one of the most cliched and
obvious statements that I’ve ever made as a film critic, but at the same time,
it’s ironically an incredibly apt way of conveying exactly what kind of film
this is. In other words, the one word that I would use to describe Pete Docter’s
Soul is that it’s… soulful. With gorgeous animation and a top-notch
story that tackles incredibly relevant concepts, Soul is arguably one of
the best examples of an animated film that flawlessly appeals to both kids and
adults. It covers some of the most thematically deep and mature themes that
have ever been featured in a Pixar film and, in true Pixar fashion, pulls off an
emotionally cathartic tale that, above all, ends up being a heartwarming
celebration of life, thus making this an incredibly timely release in the age
of COVID-19. Sure, COVID may have been the reason why Soul was forced to
forego its theatrical release in favor of debuting on Disney+, but that doesn’t
stop it from being another one of Pixar’s modern masterpieces. To be fair,
though, that’s basically what’s to be expected at this point when it comes to the
Pixar films that are directed by Pete Docter, and while this is probably going
to be his last directorial effort for a while as he transitions into the role
of Pixar’s Chief Creative Officer, it’s safe to say that this will attract a
lot of attention during awards season.
Rating: 5/5!
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