Onward

Onward to a new Pixar story!

And not a sequel!

Pixar's latest release is the fantastical road-trip movie Onward. It's got some fun ideas and a bit of soul (not to be confused with Pixar's June release, Soul) but its pacing throws it off balance. Read on for more.

Once upon a time, the creatures of fantasy had magic to do. Today, their magical world looks like ours. In this world, elven brothers Ian (Tom Holland) and Barley (Chris Pratt) Lightfoot live in New Mushroomton with mom Laurel (Julie Louis-Dreyfus). Their dad, Wilden, died before Ian was born. Ian gets a convenient present for his sixteenth birthday: a magic staff, a rare Phoenix Gem and a spell that can bring their dad back for one day. After Barley tries his luck, Ian makes the spell work ...

… halfway!

Only Wilden's lower half materializes before the gem breaks. There's another gem that can finish the spell. So Ian, Barley and their dad go on an epic quest in Barley's van, Guinevere. They have to deal with the cops, led by step-dad Colt Bronco (Mel Rodriguez). A pixie biker gang. A booby trapped dungeon. These obstacles threaten the brothers' bond. Of course, they'll have to work together to defeat the menace guarding the gem.

Director Dan Scanlon and his two co-writers spin a fine suburban fable. Their fantastical twists to modern life provide many laughs. One of the best concerns Corey the Manticore (Olivia Spencer), a former adventurer struggling to live a normal life as a restaurateur. Her B-Quest with Laurel to find her pawned-off sword is entertaining, even if it slightly disrupts the momentum of the A-Quest. The film's shout outs to Dungeons and Dragons, one being Barley's favorite game, were cool. Still, its abundant obstacles sometimes prolong the basic plot too much. The resolution is a bit of a letdown.

But it's far from a disaster. Ian and Barley carry the quest with ease. We see Barley's inner big brother emerge from a boisterous lout. We see Ian become a confidant young elf. Pratt and Holland's voice work lets us believe their magical tale. In fact, the voice work all around is magical. Corey the Manticore and the Pixie gang are standouts.

Pixar's technical mages do their jobs well. New Mushroomton is a visually appealing place. The character designers conjur up a wonderfully eclectic cast of fantasy creatures. The film's final boss is a monstrous - and somewhat silly looking - dragon formed from a chunk of Ian's school. Animating it probably wasn't easy. A Gelatinous Cube, a creature from D&D, serves as the semi-final boss. Its scene was both tense and funny. On the aural side, its best achievement was Jeff and Mychael Danna's score.

Onward isn't as emotionally challenging as Coco or Toy Story 4. But it's still a fun adventure. It's probably what a D&D session feels like without excessive number-crunching. Or, much time to breath after every encounter. Maybe that's why its 102 minutes feel longer than they sometimes are. It's still worth a matinee.

Its most emotional moments come from its preceding cartoon. Playdate with Destiny stars Maggie Simpson as she falls for a fellow toddler. It was a cute short with an emotional and funny climax. It's enough to hope for a new Simpsons movie.