There's a lot going on in Onward, so much so that I found myself mindlessly swept up in its energetic adventure. While it's not got any genre-bending, mold-breaking, or especially innovative new ideas, this movie manages to do a lot of pretty cool things. It aims for a certain kind of fanbase largely overlooked by Disney animated features, finally cracks open the door for certain types of families and relationships, and strengthens the recent push from Disney movies to ignore romance in favor of lasting ties between siblings and family.
Set in a world of myth, populated by elves, centaurs, and pixies, this movie is a sort of fever dream for kids who grew up playing fantasy adventure games like Dungeons & Dragons. Or, at least, I can only assume as much based on comments I've heard and my own recent first experience with D&D. Of course it's a PG-rated version of that fantasy life, but it works hard to fuse that mythos with real suburbia. The story centers on two elf brothers, but this isn't Tolkien; these characters have cell phones and ramshackle vans. They try to fit in at school and spend their days worrying about helping their single mom in the town of New Mushroomton. Helping her, that is, but also steering somewhat clear of her uptight new boyfriend, a centaur police officer named Colt Bronco.
When, on Ian's sixteenth birthday, their mother presents the boys with a gift from their father -- who died shortly after Ian's birth -- Ian's older brother Barley is overcome with excitement. Barley's love for a certain roleplaying adventure game is something of an embarrassment to Ian, who just wants to fit in despite longing for a father he'll never know. But Barley's enthusiasm peaks when their father's gift is revealed: a magic staff and a spell that can bring dear old dead dad back for one full day. Barley works hard to activate the spell, but the magic just doesn't seem to work.
It's a potent opening crisis for the story, a heartbreaking foundation of hope: to see a departed parent again, even for a single day. Ian, crushed that his coming-of-age birthday gift was fruitless, casually attempts to use the spell when he's finally alone in his room. This time, it works! At least at first, that is, because his father materializes from the feet up. But the awe of real magic and the impossible dream of seeing dad are cut short when the special crystal is depleted and the spell is interrupted. They have half of dad -- precisely from the waist down -- and the clock has started ticking on their 24-hour timetable. Barley draws on his wealth of magical lore to launch them on a Quest to locate another crystal, finish the spell, and get 100% of their father back before their day is gone.
It's not the most original story, and as the plot careens kinetically from one fraught episode to another, the breakneck dialogue and abundance of visuals feel like perhaps too much icing on a cake. The sweet confections pile up quickly and although the film effectively balances the laugh-out-loud humor with genuine nostalgic adventure tropes, it can be a hard multi-layered dessert to swallow. It helps that the voice cast is so familiar and endearing: Tom Holland and Chris Pratt are eminently likable, as are Julia Louis-Dreyfus and an all-star comedic cast of bit parts that includes Lena Waithe, Octavia Spencer, and Tracey Ullman.
Funny and nice but somewhat standard, the movie whisks along until the finale, when a single heartrending scene wreaked havoc on my tear ducts. I don't want to spoil it too much, but let me just say that if Disney insists on more of these "true love is found between siblings" themes like in Frozen and Brother Bear, my heart will give out much too soon. It's such a quiet, profound, and ultimately devastating catharsis that it saved the rest of the movie from being somewhat forgettable. And yet, it's really not sad; in the way only the best Disney or Disney-Pixar flicks can be, the finale brings heartwarming affirmation and pure joy out of a dire situation.
Come for the cutesy cult-fanbase references and what-if premise. Stay for the emotional payoff you did not know you desperately needed. A new Quest awaits.
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