“Soul” Film Review

By: Keaton Marcus

I have two reviews to write today. One for Pixar’s Soul, and another for DC’s Wonder Woman 1984. Let’s start the day off by writing on a more positive note. Anyway, this is one of the best films of 2020, complete with visually stunning animation, seamless voice acting, and beautifully contemplative themes that propel it forward as another grand Pixar achievement. Surprisingly, unlike literally all of the family films released this year, it caters to both the kids and the adults. Although one could argue that it aims too high thematically for younger audiences, the little ones will find much to like with the exuberant performances, colorful animation, and perhaps grasp some deeper stuff too. With the older ones, this is a gorgeous tale of life and passion that gets both metaphysical and musical. Jamie Foxx and Tina Fey are a goldmine of brilliance together, and each moment they share gives such a sense of beauty that something like Onward lacked. Sure, it has all the quintessential Pixar tear-jerking moments, but it has its own merits as well, and a lot of them. We’ve got all the basic humor, but somehow director Pete Docter continues to break genre boundaries in terms of visual splendor and storytelling even after witnessing something as emotionally wrecking as Toy Story 4 last year. I guarantee you this man was high on something good while pitching this thing, and despite the basic gist of the film is downright insane, everything paid off in the endgame.

Ok. So we follow Joe Gardner (Foxx), a middle school band teacher who is looking to get some sort of a successful job in the music industry to end his repetitive life teaching students that for the most part, simply don’t care. But then his friend Curly (Questlove) calls and tells him that he may have just scored a concert with famous musician Dorothea Williams (Angela Bassett) if he can nail an audition with her. At the audition, Joe easily gets into his jazzy groove and Dorothea is immediately impressed, so he gets the job. One issue, he dies (I think so) by falling down a storm drain. His soul is basically transported to an otherworldly passage to a place called the Great Beyond, which we can assume is Pete Docter’s vision of heaven. As any normal person would do, he begins to freak out and falls off this bridge into another place called The Great Before. Here, he is told to become something called a Mentor by a presence called Jerry (or is it Terry?) and is assigned to Soul 22 (Tina Fey) to attempt to find her purpose in life so she can return to Earth. Obviously, Joe formulates a plan to steal Soul 22’s Earth badge, ditch her, and have a successful concert, but it doesn’t end up that simple. I won’t spoil anything else, but what follows is a messy, flawed, but ultimately incredible animated fever-dream that has to be the craziest thing we have seen from Pixar to-date.

I love the cast and all, but I do want to take more time to actually talk about the film for the most part. However, let us devote a little part of this paragraph to the film’s two leads. Tina Fey and Jamie Foxx, as I mentioned, were magical together, nailing both the comedic and dramatic scenes. The entertainment value was as grand as we come to expect for every Pixar film, but the two dig a little deeper, and I will admit that Foxx gives one of the best performances of 2020. If you can believe it, the performances actually weren’t my favorite aspect in the movie despite how magnificent they were. I was expecting something more or less similar to Inside Out, and for the majority of the first act, I got what I previously predicted. However, Docter, out of literally nowhere, decides to surprise us once again with refreshingly unique storytelling. The sequences when Joe’s soul enters a cat and Tina Fey’s soul enters Joe’s body are laugh-out-loud hilarious, but also completely new. The thrilling, visually sumptuous action with Moonwind’s (a hippy that Joe encounters in the Great Before) colorful pirate ship contrasting with the dark sands filled with lost souls are so goddamn fulfilling. Every shot is a visual feast, the deeper moments are thematically rich, and the movie is ultimately a spiritual experience that rarely fails to touch the heart. In terms of issues I had with it, there were practically none except for the occasionally messy and unfocused storytelling. Overall, there are so many standout moments filled with fantastic music, the greatest animation that the studio has given us, and genius direction.

The final opinion is: Pete Docter and Pixar have once again knocked it out of the park with Soul, a thematically and emotionally contemplative feast for the eyes that feature two standout performances from its well-matched leads.

Rated: PG (for some peril)

Genre: Family/Comedy

Runtime: 1 hour 48 minutes

Directed By: Pete Docter