Onward Review: Satisfying and enjoyably adequate
Onward was a fantastic twist on quite a few well-worn ideas (though well-worn doesn't necessarily equal bad persay). Onward felt fresh yet familiar. Fantasy creatures in a modern world is great, but fantasy creatures in a modern, boring world going on an old fashioned quest in that modern world? That type of blending in stories and tropes has a lot of potential.
It was often predictable in some ways, as many movies often are that follow a certain arc, yet it still somehow found a way to go in a different direction than what I expected. Onward had most of the traditional checkpoints of a story common in Disney/Pixar movies, but it didn't seem too predictable, at least for me. I knew what would likely be coming, such as the call to action, but I did not expect the "quest" to come in the form of bringing back only half of their father and having to search for a way to get the other half. It was familiar yet unexpected, as I said before, and that really was so much of the charm of this movie.
There were a lot of hilarious moments in the movie, and that was one of my favorite parts. The dad's legs constantly walking into trouble never got less funny to me. The whole thing was a good mix of a few heart to heart, family love moments with quite a few laughs. They were all types of gags: physical comedy (especially with the legs), nerdy references, jokes, and a bit of adult humor thrown in occasionally. Any movie that can get a good, honest, harmless laugh out of me is already rated well. It doesn't have to be original or a masterpiece as long as it can get me laughing. That's one reason I do love "kids" media as it is not made to be artsy, confusingly complicated or dark and gritty. It's made to tell a story and have fun doing so. And Onward accomplished that quite nicely.
Just because it was funny doesn't mean it wasn't also heartfelt. Laurel, the mother, went out of her way going on a dangerous mission, breaking the law multiple times with her new manticore friend Corey, and Laurel's boyfriend, Colt Bronco was the awkward boyfriend that did sincerely seem to try to connect with the kids. There were moments of self-sacrifice such as Barley sacrificing his van Guinevere so that they could continue their quest, which seems fitting as Barley would know best that any good quest would involve some personal sacrifice. The moments of frustration between the brothers felt real as siblings, both the little squabbles and bigger frustrations, but their moments of bonding on multiple occasions were incredibly sweet. These moments were a good balance to the humor, and one never seemed to feel forced over the other.
The focus on the brotherly love was one of the best parts of the movie. It had a feeling of Frozen, where the love between sisters surprisingly acts as the saving grace instead of a romantic interest. Except here, the real saving grace was that there was no forced romance in the movie. That fact alone made this movie feel refreshing and surprising. I cannot begin to describe my relief when there is no romance in movies such as this, for while it can be adorable and sweet, it is so easily boring, absurdly predictable, and often contrived and forced. No romance allowed for the family connections to be fully flushed out without the plot being taken over by a high school romance that can only be renewed so many ways. Free of the romantic obligations, the film was able to better explore the love and connection between Ian and Barley and strengthen the family bonding.
The moment they finally completed their quest did not disappoint. Barley being able to say goodbye to his father instead of Ian talking to him was bittersweet but very satisfying. Though Barley technically had the chance to say goodbye to his father as he died, he was too afraid of all the tubes and strange medical equipment hooked up to his father. This is a rarely discussed aspect in movies, kids' movies especially. Usually when a parent or parents are dead, it is very vague. The parent who is alive often references how wonderful the spouse was, how much they miss them, how they wish they were here right now. Instead, Barley references the medical equipment, how scared he was by that, how he felt he couldn't say goodbye to his dad like that. Because of his fear, he wasn't able to say a proper goodbye. Though this may seem small, this fact may help kids (and honestly people of all ages), come to better terms with the uncomfortable and unpleasant nature of sickness, of hospitals, of death. It can help create a conversation and normalize an all too real aspect of real life by placing it in this fictional, funny setting. It makes it just a bit more real while simultaneously allowing Barley the sad but crucial moment to say goodbye. Though Ian is the protagonist in the story, the finale allowed closure for both of the brothers in a way neither had expected, Ian finding the love and supportive figure in his brother and Barley a last chance to see his father. Plus, the spirit dragon with the face of the school mascot made for some wonderful comedy mixed among the emotional aspects of the climax.
The movie was wrapped up nicely after the finale. The family was strengthened, both brothers acknowledging their appreciation and love for one another with a loving mother. And at the end of the movie, the quest for seeing their birth father didn't mean pushing the new father figure to the side. Colt Bronco, a bit of a joke throughout the movie for the two brothers, was actually accepted into the family dynamics, riding off to work with his hair flowing in the breeze, again bringing comedy in nicely but also symbolizing the change their quest had started to make within the larger world, bringing some of the magic back.
A little bit about inclusion in the movie, as that's important in the movie that hosts Disney's first openly gay character. There was a decently diverse supporting cast, though the bar is quite low with Disney/Pixar movies and mainstream movies in general. There was a nod to those with various disabilities in the school kids that Ian wants to be friends with, and I appreciated the general attempt at that type of inclusion and including that as normal. There were various hints at different human races coded into the mythical races, but while the background cast was "diverse," the main characters were all still elves and coded as a white suburban family, so not much ground made there. The main kicker that Disney advertised was that this movie had the franchise's first openly gay character. After people throwing fits about the potential lesbian couple in the background of one shot in Finding Dory, it's clear that gay characters, open or not, will get a lot of throwback from the public, so in its own way it is nice to see any open representation from the company. However, it was a small representation, a casual mention from a female police officer talking about her girlfriend's kid. The casualness is actually quite wonderful; they didn't make a big deal of it or try to milk it for all they got. It demonstrates that queer people are indeed everywhere in the world, whether they are open and vocal about it or not, but it still makes that representation quite small. She's only on screen for about 5 minutes. in terms of representation, Disney has a loooong way to go to show true representation.
The overall movie was cute, funny, and quite a satisfying watch. It follows a well worn path in plot and story premise, and it may not rate among the highest pixar/disney movies (and it certainly can't make me cry more than Toy Story 3 or Up). However, I honestly think Onward has an important place in the Pixar lineup. I think there's a lot to be said about it for adding more representations of family love to a market saturated in romance. It was absolutely worth the watch, and likely a few rewatches, for some good laughs and heartfelt moments.
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