Soul (2020, Pixar's latest)

[Small Man Big Horse]

After

Spoiler alert

dying in an accident Joe is set to join some sort of universal consciousness, but he fucks off and ends up elsewhere in the afterlife acting as a mentor to new souls. The idea is that you get all of your personality traits given to you before you're born apparently, but the mentor is the who gives you your unique "spark", and Joe is asked to help "22" (Tina Fey), a soul who is so shitty that apparently even Mother Theresa hated her, as this is a universe where Mother Theresa wasn't a cunt. Then - twist - both 22 and Joe get back to Earth but 22 is in Joe's body and Joe's in a nearby cat, and a vague sort of body swap comedy ensues.

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It's not Pixar at their very best but it is very endearing, and I liked it a fair bit more than Onward, plus they land the ending and then some. 7.4/10

Random Thoughts:

Spoiler alert

The first bit in the afterlife is oddly the blandest part, and when 22 and Joe are down on Earth it becomes far more entertaining.

Despite having a number of very famous names in the cast, oddly Graham Norton as "Moonglow" pulled me out of the reality of the pic, I know he started off as an actor but it's been so long since I've seen him as such a thing that I struggled a bit when his character was onscreen.

Um that's it really, I don't have any other random thoughts other than that I quite liked it, but wish it had been a bit funnier.

Edit: Just remembered something - I quite like a fair amount of jazz, but thought the excerpts we got in the movie were quite dull. I'm no expert though, and would be interested in what a real fan thought of it.

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[lipsink]

Random Thoughts:

Spoiler alert

The first bit in the afterlife is oddly the blandest part, and when 22 and Joe are down on Earth it becomes far more entertaining.

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Spoiler alert

Yep, thought exactly the same. Everything really came together in that part. This film felt like two distinct styles and I have to say the trippy Brian Eno-type stuff left me a little cold. The stuff set on earth was just incredibly sweet and fun. At least Pixar are trying to do something a little different and experiment a bit.

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[El Unicornio, mang]

Loved this. Probably my film of 2020 (maybe tied with I'm Thinking of Ending Things) and definitely my favourite Pixar since Toy Story 3. Their animation, character design, and attention to detail never ceases to amaze me, even in stuff like Onward which I wasn't so keen on. I liked the trippy metaphysical stuff, my favourite parts were probably with the cat though, very funny (and just cos I like cats).

[rue the polywhirl]

Becomes a good, entertaining movie precisely when

Spoiler alert

the bodyswap stuff happens and the dude happens to land in the cat's body by mistake. Movie should possibly be called 'Asshole' because one of the few funny moments it when someone looks 'up' inside the cat by mistake.

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[Custard]

Yeah, the afterlife stuff was really boring and bland looking, but once they return to earth it really picks up. Ended up enjoying it, though I think I prefer Inside Out

[George White]

After

Spoiler alert

dying in an accident Joe is set to join some sort of universal consciousness, but he fucks off and ends up elsewhere in the afterlife acting as a mentor to new souls. The idea is that you get all of your personality traits given to you before you're born apparently, but the mentor is the who gives you your unique "spark", and Joe is asked to help "22" (Tina Fey), a soul who is so shitty that apparently even Mother Theresa hated her, as this is a universe where Mother Theresa wasn't a cunt. Then - twist - both 22 and Joe get back to Earth but 22 is in Joe's body and Joe's in a nearby cat, and a vague sort of body swap comedy ensues.

[close]

It's not Pixar at their very best but it is very endearing, and I liked it a fair bit more than Onward, plus they land the ending and then some. 7.4/10

Random Thoughts:

Spoiler alert

The first bit in the afterlife is oddly the blandest part, and when 22 and Joe are down on Earth it becomes far more entertaining.

Despite having a number of very famous names in the cast, oddly Graham Norton as "Moonglow" pulled me out of the reality of the pic, I know he started off as an actor but it's been so long since I've seen him as such a thing that I struggled a bit when his character was onscreen.

Um that's it really, I don't have any other random thoughts other than that I quite liked it, but wish it had been a bit funnier.

Edit: Just remembered something - I quite like a fair amount of jazz, but thought the excerpts we got in the movie were quite dull. I'm no expert though, and would be interested in what a real fan thought of it.

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I was astonished when I mentioned

Spoiler alert

Norton

[close]

and someone said, "He's great in Soul".
And I went, "Whaaaaa?"

To be honest, Disney has a precedent.

[Glyn]

I was astonished when I mentioned

Spoiler alert

Norton

[close]

and someone said, "He's great in Soul".
And I went, "Whaaaaa?"

I confidently stated during it 'ah it'll be just in the British version. Shrek had a few different voices over here too' and then had a  'well f#&% my hat' moment when I got to Wikipedia.

Almost as odd is the credit for Trent Reznor on the soundtrack

[rue the polywhirl]

Almost as odd is the credit for Trent Reznor on the soundtrack

Not very odd. The amount of generic soundtrack work he does atm. What I find odd is his reference as a random enemy in Super Mario World.

[famethrowa]

Is this going to flop? It seems hugely expensive for a cartoon, and appears a bit too deep and meaningful for the movie-buying hordes, it's not immediately obvious what it's all about at first glance, and people are remarkably stupid. Though maybe, what with the new fashioned streaming and all, "flop" is not applicable nowdays?

[El Unicornio, mang]

A lot of my friends on facebook have been posting about how much they like it, more than any film I can recall, so it might get a lot of viewers just from people recommending it as worth watching. Maybe people have been a bit surprised at the quality of it, didn't seem to have the fanfare of previous Pixar films.

At $150 million budget, it's actually Pixar's least expensive film in 13 years. They're generally $200 million to make these days. And Disney can definitely afford a few flops anyway.

[holyzombiejesus]

Is this going to flop? It seems hugely expensive for a cartoon, and appears a bit too deep and meaningful for the movie-buying hordes, it's not immediately obvious what it's all about at first glance, and people are remarkably stupid. Though maybe, what with the new fashioned streaming and all, "flop" is not applicable nowdays?

I think it seems to be being used to lure people in to subscribing to the Disney channel. It's only £5.99 a month and this is free on there.

[dissolute ocelot]

Random Thoughts:

Spoiler alert

Despite having a number of very famous names in the cast, oddly Graham Norton as "Moonglow" pulled me out of the reality of the pic, I know he started off as an actor but it's been so long since I've seen him as such a thing that I struggled a bit when his character was onscreen.

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Not sure cast members need spoiler tags but for me

Spoiler alert

Ayoade

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has such a distinctive voice (usually at least, less in e.g. The Souvenir) it was very distracting. Pixar and Disney are usually very good with voice casting too.

I agree with most comments: it's an ultimately moving celebration of the importance of

Spoiler alert

teaching

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but despite some inventive design, the fantastic side is no match for Inside Out; the cat is quite funny but the humour is low-level (split trousers); the jazz didn't excite me; the plotting was diffuse (there is a deadline but it isn't clear how time even works, and the

Spoiler alert

accountant

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never manages to be menacing); and it's all very middling.

Middling Pixar is a lot better than most mainstream film, but it seemed similar to Onward in being generally underwhelming and overly coarse humour, in need of a few rewrites, but with a moving ending that does tie it together.

[Glyn]

Not very odd. The amount of generic soundtrack work he does atm. What I find odd is his reference as a random enemy in Super Mario World.

Fair enough, he just wouldn't have been high on my guesses for 'Disney Jazz Soundtrack' but I thought the music was great in this. Agree with all of the above that's it's not quite top tier Pixar but far better than almost everything else out there at the moment.

[George White]

I confidently stated during it 'ah it'll be just in the British version. Shrek had a few different voices over here too' and then had a  'well f#&% my hat' moment when I got to Wikipedia.

Almost as odd is the credit for Trent Reznor on the soundtrack

He has a cult following stateside. I remember his appearance in quer US indie Another Gay Movie, where he and Kid in the Hall Scott Thompson were the special guest star teachers.

[El Unicornio, mang]

Plus, he's interviewed practically every big Hollywood name of the past 20 years so two or three times each so is probably quite chummy with some of them, or at least could blag his way to an audition.

[MojoJojo]

Has Pixar become a bit death obsessed? Coco, Onward and this all seem to have death as a theme.

(admittedly I've not seen this and its not clear to me how much death is part of this. But I'm pretty sure death wasn't a thing in Pixar movies, beyond an abstract risk, until relatively recently)
(edit - I suppose Finding Nemo is an early Pixar film where death is important)

[I.D. Smith]

Not very odd. The amount of generic soundtrack work he does atm. What I find odd is his reference as a random enemy in Super Mario World.

What on earth?? That's one for the Feck My Hat thread, for me.

[idunnosomename]

Has Pixar become a bit death obsessed? Coco, Onward and this all seem to have death as a theme.

(admittedly I've not seen this and its not clear to me how much death is part of this. But I'm pretty sure death wasn't a thing in Pixar movies, beyond an abstract risk, until relatively recently)
(edit - I suppose Finding Nemo is an early Pixar film where death is important)

Up is completely dominated by death from the start. And it's not Disney-death. Ellie is gone gone gone after the title sequence. No visions of posthumous reunions, not even flashbacks. She doesn't even have an adult voice actor. To the audience, she is completely gone. It's quite clever really

[Waking Life]

A lot of Pixar is to do with loss, be it death, innocence or three ginger brothers becoming bears.

[Custard]

And Cars 3 died on it's arse

[famethrowa]

And Cars 3 died on it's arse

Did it?? I remember taking the boy to see it but can't remember a single thing from it, so fair dos. Probably because Cars 2 was such an awful nasty thing.