Onward: A charming and satisfying Pixar adventure

You probably missed it at the cinemas – it was only out for two days before theatres closed – but now is your shot.

Not many Australians would’ve managed to catch Pixar’s latest movie Onward in cinemas.

It was slated for a theatrical release yesterday but as the spectre of coronavirus shutdowns loomed large, the date was moved forward to late March. That still wasn’t early enough with cinemas ordered to shut three days before its debut.

What it had to settle for was a weekend of sneak previews hours before shutdown, which very few people turned up for because by then we all knew what was happening in the community.

So, faced with little choice, Disney has released Onward for at-home viewing from today – you can buy it digitally from iTunes, Google Play and like-platforms, but it will also be released to stream on Disney+ on April 24 if you (or your kids) can hold out a little longer.

Featuring the voices of Tom Holland, Chris Pratt, Julia Louis-Dreyfus and Octavia Spencer, Onward is an adventure tale about discovering your confidence. There’s also magic, bikie pixies and a dragon – so it’s not all serious, obviously!

Tom Holland and Chris Pratt voice the Lightfoot brothers.

Ian Lightfoot (Holland) is a teenage elf. He lives in a world with creatures such as elves, centaurs, manticores and cyclops, but everyone has long since modernised and left magic behind, now just a relic in folklore.

Ian is an awkward kid too afraid to even invite his classmates to his birthday party. His older brother Barley (Pratt) is the opposite – full of brash confidence and a propensity to do before he thinks.

On Ian’s birthday, their mother Laurel (Louis-Dreyfus) gives him a gift left to him by their father, who died before Ian was born and Barley was too young to remember him. The gift is a spell that gives Ian and Barley one 24-hour period to spend with their dad.

When the spell goes awry, Ian and Barley are racing against the clock to complete an ancient mythical quest.

Onward has been released on digital platforms early. Picture: Disney/Pixar via AP

There’s a lot to like in Onward, the least of which is its bright, appealing animation, character design and world building, but you wouldn’t expect anything less from an outfit as accomplished as Pixar.

The story is a jolly romp with enough twists and turns and character growth to satisfy.

The voice performances also work really well – Avenger buddies Holland and Pratt create a winning chemistry between these two brothers that capture the push and pull, the tensions and love, of a sibling relationship.

Yet, there’s something missing – well, maybe not missing as such. Pixar has elevated the family movie to such emotional highs that now when it produces a perfectly amiable – nay, more than amiable – movie, you feel a little cheated.

It’s as if we expect some kind of emotional breakthrough or catharsis, which is not a fair bar to place on Onward. Not every movie has to be Inside Out, Toy Story 3 or Coco.

Even a second-tier Pixar movie is still a great movie.

Rating: 3.5/5

Onward is available now for digital purchase, and will be released on Disney+ on April 24

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