ironhorse_iv Review of Soul

Soul (2020)

Pixar truly put their heart and soul into this animated movie. For the most part, it kinda work.

[7/10 · 9 April 2021]

Watching protagonist Joe Gardner (Voiced by Jamie Foxx) try to escape the world of before life with the help of a young soul 22 (Voiced by Tina Fey) was a somewhat interesting character study. Although the mature philosophical themes about living may elude younger viewers. Even for adults, the movie can be a bit confusing at times with the spiritual elements of existential crisis involving the character's out of the body experience; along with the Catch-22 subplot of looking for a spark. After all, screenwriter and director Pete Docter along with co-writers Kemp Powers & Mike Jones didn't even know if the film should go with the nurture or nature route with the baffling unclear Eastern and New Age mediative. Having both themes just made the message of the picture a little more jarring & muddled. Then there is the fact that the movie can get a little too preachy and seriously heavy handed at times to the point that most of the humor takes a backseat. The jokes that were left for the audiences didn't really hit my funny bone. The montage of interactions with key historical figures trying to mentor 22 was somewhat insulting. I found the sassing bantering between Joe and the cynical, snarky and mischievous soul really annoying. Plus, the constant messing with people by 22 in the Zone probably caused at least a few fatalities. Truth be told, none of the souls in the Great Beyond doesn't really seem to care about the value of life; including the Jerries. After all they're the worse, openly willing to let megalomaniac' personalities go to Earth. Who knew that the manifestation of dynamic energies, appearing in a comprehensible form, albeit abstract could be so hypocritical? As for the 'Freaky Friday' body swap concept later on the film. I found those jokes a little more adorable. However, some animal lovers might find Mr. Mittens' out-of-body experience jab tasteless. Along with that, certain people of color might find the fact that Pixar's first movie with an African-American lead somewhat problematic. The film visually has Joe barely portray in his own body. As for me, I found everything about Gardner's urban surroundings felt authentic and real. The film so deeply ingrained into Afro-American culture that not seeing the protagonist in his human form for most of the runtime was no bother. After all, that concept beats the original idea of Joe as a Caucasian animator wanting to become a rock star. I really don't see that fitting the title that much. That said, the movie still fails to go into detail how Gardner could be ever be mistaken for Dr. Bjorn P. Börgensson. Honestly if the Jerries could tell the different between unborn souls with little more than vague circular blobs and few personalities, you would think that they would notice who the mentors are, through their distinctive features that those souls carry over. Bjorn and Joe truly don't match. The Jerries really are awful. Plus, did they ever found what happen to the good doctor in the end? I don't think he ever appeared in the movie. Shame that they didn't even use John Ratzenberger's voice for him. Anyways, I guess he's a mysterious throwaway character; along with odd mentions of Joe's unseen ex-girlfriend Lisa and missing posthumous father. Backstory on these three would had help the film a lot as they could had played more into the plot. Because of those unexplored character developments and the cop out ending, the movie wasn't as tear-jerking or cathartic as other similar Pixar flicks. There just weren't enough supporting characters with great voice performers to provoke a deeper and more resonant emotional response. As for the main cast. Those voice performers felt at times like they were holding back. Especially Foxx whom could deliver a very good emotional musical driven performance. The actor doesn't even provide all the jazz piano playing as that role went to pianist Jon Batiste. Since the film was centered around music and needed something to animate Joe's piano playing to, why not use Foxx! It would had been nice. The tune to 'Epiphany' with his singing voice could really stood out. Sadly, I hardly remember any of the score by composers Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross. I found most of them forgettable. As for the animation. It's a mixed bag. Some of the visuals are breath taking vibrant. I do like the way the music notes looking Jerrys and Terry (Voiced by Rachel House) were traditionally animated; along with the abstract sound waves shapes the main character falls into from the musical staff conveyor belt. The blending of the 2D animation into a CGI world landscape was truly flawless. However, those scenes are far between with others designs failing by being little too unnatural. As for the after-credit zinger. That add on really doesn't make much sense now since many of the 2020 movies were impacted by the COVID-19 Pandemic, forcing Disney to skip its theatrical release and debut on its streaming service instead. Nevertheless, the movie still certainly still worth checking even if fails to capture the greatness of other Pixar existential films like 2017's 'Coco' had. At least, the flick is not too much of a grinding, soul-crushing experience. It's decent at best.