So I have this really arbitrary belief that I need to start the year off right with a great film and a great book. (Let’s not ask how that went last year.)
That’s why I put off Soul but it’s certainly fills the great film slot.
The film is about Joe (Jamie Foxx) he lives to play music and on the same day he gets his big break he falls down a hole and winds up in the beyond where all the new souls are waiting.
Well actually he gets there by running away from the light.
He meets a soul called 22 (Tina Fey) who has been there for thousands of years cause she doesn’t want to go to Earth and no one can get through to her.
I think 22 might be one of my new favorite characters. I mean why bother with living when you can fuck with basketball teams from the great beyond. Although I do question some of her past mentors (though that scene was hilarious) I mean I’m not sure what an unborn soul should take from Marie Antoinette- she died pretty badly.
Anyway the two wind up back on Earth in a mixed up bodies scenario and high jinks ensue in which Joe goes a little nutso in pursuit of that dream and in a beautiful sequence 22 begins to realize she may be wrong about Earth.
And I mean what can you say?
Pixar is Pixar wrapping beautiful messages in fun films for all ages. (Seriously when I first saw this trailer nine months ago I was like who wants to watch a film about a guy dying? I should have known that it wouldn’t be that cut and dry.)
The film is gorgeous. The music great and the imagining of the afterlife and before a lot of fun.
Plus that last line it makes you really think about your life and I think coming off a year like we just had about how we’re all really living (or not) these days. Anyway it gave me a lot to think about.
As to the ending I did feel at first like I knew where it was going a bit too easily so it felt like the film lacked the immediate emotional punch of Onward. But this one will stay with you and is more than worth a watch.
Recommend: Yes.
We watched it on Christmas and, you’re right, it does make you think and reflect on your life. ❤️
The music!!!! It was SOOOO GOOD! I was surprised by how touching this movie was, completely different from what I was expecting. I didn’t feel like this was a “kids movie” or a “family movie,” I felt like it was just a film that *happened* to be animated. Definitely made me want to slow down and enjoy the little things more. 🙂
I feel very much the same! A lot of people are comparing this to Inside Out which is fair but for me it wasn’t quite as great as Inside Out. Still absolutely brilliant though, Pixar really know how to make a good movie!
The animation quality just blew my mind, the scenes in the club made me keep forgetting it wasn’t live action.
I’m planning to watch this soon 🙂
I hope you enjoy it!