Disney-Pixar’s feature film Soul premiered on Disney+ on December 25, 2020.
To put it very bluntly, this was one of my least favorite Pixar films of all time. The animation was amazing, the lighting, coloring, rendering, all of it was top tier and obvious that the craft itself is an art and those that worked on it put time, care, and love into their craft.
My biggest issue is the overall story. Part of it was just a little out there in my opinion. I just found it to be a little weird. The subject matters of death, legacy, living life to the fullest are very complicated and heavy for a younger audience. The way it was handled was fine, I just wish some thoughts were more explicit in those lessons. Between the slapstick comedy of a middle aged man in a cat’s body, and someone who quite literally does not know themselves in a middle age man’s body, I think a lot of that lesson was lost. Not all of it of course, but a lot. I particularly enjoyed the parts where 22 was quite literally just enjoying life, the colors, the food, the breeze etc. and I think there should have been more of that in this story. Supposedly multiple endings were written for this film and maybe one of them would have fit better. It just feels like a lot of the third act was rushed. At 107 minuets of run time, the film itself is not that long and could have lasted at least another 3-13 minutes to take more time to wrap up the story.
The characters were mostly 2D, but developed more as the story progressed. Joe eventually learned that just because you are good at something doesn’t make it the reason you were born. 22 learned that life itself is a gift and something to be enjoyed daily. Of the two characters, 22 had the most realistic arc in my opinion. Joe consistently fought for his “wants” for the majority of the movie making his decision to save 22 in the third act seem abrupt. The transition to fighting for his want to perform and his need to help 22 and understand that your purpose is not the same as your spark felt like whiplash instead of easing into that lesson is what really bothered me.
Going into the movie I honestly did not know what to expect. With Inside Out, Onward etc. I knew what I was probably going to see and had expectations based on that. I had no expectations going into Soul. Something that surprised me was how much I liked 22. 22 quickly became my favorite character after running away with Joe. I initially did not like 22 so I do not take this change lightly. 22′s arc was the most compelling in my own opinion and I believe 22 had the biggest character growth.
Overall I believe this film was okay, but not great. The overall lesson of just enjoying life because life is a gift is a great lesson, but I feel not executed the way it should have. Based on other people’s responses’ I have read on various social media, I have discovered that the viewers typically fall into 1 of 2 camps; Soul was great a top 3 Pixar movie, or Soul was okay and in the lower half of Pixar movies. The animation, lighting, rendering, framing etc. was all amazing as I mentioned before. Truly it was a feat of love by these artists. Every Pixar movie that comes out has better and better technology and I can’t wait to see what is on store.
3/5 Pizza slices for Soul
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