For audiences, 2020 has been nothing short of a rough year in terms of dealing with the Covid-19 pandemic along with experiencing the loss of loved ones as well as their livelihoods. Many find themselves questioning what they would do now that their lives have been altered, along with losing hope that things would get better. Just when things were looking grim for audiences this holiday season, Pixar's Soul arrives with the sole intention of reigniting audiences hope that things will not only get better for them, but also provide the reassurance that there's still much life to live even if they feel a bit lost at the moment. Disney's Pixar has solidified themselves over the years as being one of the strongest studios in regards to being masterful storytellers, who know how to strike the right emotional chord with audiences. Soul proves to be no exception with its emotional and heartfelt story revolving around the themes of success, failure, disappointment, seeking ones station in life, and ultimately choosing to not wait around for things to happen but making them happen for oneself. Soul serves as being a beautifully crafted and poignant story that features top notch animation, while encouraging audiences to reflect upon their own lives and how they go about living it, along with delivering the heartfelt message that they should both cherish and utilize every minute of it to their maximum potential. At a time where many people find themselves asking these very questions, Soul provides audiences with some much needed words of encouragement while managing to be hugely entertaining in doing so along with touching audiences heart. The end result ends up being the finest animated feature film of 2020, as well as one of the years best films hands down.
The plot for Soul focuses on a passionate elementary school music teacher Joe Gardner (Voiced by Jamie Foxx) on the verge of receiving his big break, finds himself being trapped in a purgatory called "The Great Beyond". He enlists the help of a young, unassigned soul (Voiced by Tina Fey) to help him get back to his earthly life while she learns more about herself. The story of Soul has many layers to it that make it an unusually striking yet noble one for Pixar to make with the story combining elements regarding the exploring of music careers such as Jazz, along with one seeking parental approval, the concept of life and death, and ultimately receiving second chances and not wishing to waste them. Soul takes all of these elements within its main story and effectively explores them without feeling preachy or excessive. The film manages to strike the appropriate balance of being charming and fun to watch, while posing both serious and mature questions regarding ones desired purpose and ultimate station in life. Pixar manages to once again deliver audiences a story that's fun-spirited with it carrying the noblest of intentions in wishing to speak to its audience. For a film that makes the concept of souls a central focus of its story, Pixar's Soul manages to possess one of its own with the film being driven by its enormous amount of heart while striking the perfect balance of breathtaking animation with subtle yet stellar storytelling. The film succeeds in being all around entertainment for both young children, while also speaking to adults who'll unquestionably unpack and contemplate the stories numerous themes and messages. Soul once again reaffirms Pixar's status as being the studio to beat in regards to generating stunning animation, while managing to evoke surprise emotions from audiences with storytelling that feels both confident and strategic.
As well told and executed Soul appears to be both visually and storytelling wise, the one element that really brings the film to life and makes it work so effectively are the fantastic voice acting performances from its main cast with both Jamie Foxx and Tina Fey giving the story the right amount of humor, heart, and humanity required in order for it to work. Both actors are terrific here and bring the right amount of energy to their parts while conveying the right amounts of emotion. Foxx delivers a charismatic performance as passionate Jazz Pianist and music teacher Joe Gardner, who experiences his soul getting separated from his body after an accident. Foxx brings the right amount of humanity to his part along with beautifully conveying the confusion that his character experiences upon realizing what's happened to him, and his desperation to get a second chance with the career opportunity of a lifetime. He plays his character as being self-reflective of the missed opportunities and disappointments he's had in his life while wanting another shot at making his dream come true. Tina Fey follows suit with giving a charming performance as 22, a soul that's trapped in "The Great Before " (A place where special counselors, all named Jerry, prepare souls for arriving on Earth with distinct personalities) with her carrying a dim perspective of her life. Fey does well with making her character appear both cynical and sympathetic while bringing enormous amounts of energy and enthusiasm to the part like Foxx. Both actors work well off each other and showcase strong chemistry while on screen despite their performances being limited to voice acting. They both prove to be more than capable at doing such, while adding large amounts of life to their characters along with garnering empathy from the audience. The rest of the supporting cast manages to shine with them showcasing their voice acting talents such as Graham Norton doing impressive voice work as the spiritual sign twirler Moonwind. The same can be said about Rachel House as the Great Beyond's soul counter Terry along with Alice Braga and Richard Ayoade as two soul counselors in the Great Before who are both named Jerry coincidentally. Phylicia Rashad surprises with her minimal yet effectively moving part as Joe's mother Libba Gardner with Donnell Rawlings delivering nice voice work as Joe's barber Dez, and Angela Bassett as Dorothea Williams, a respected jazz musician and saxophone player whom Joe gets the offer of a lifetime to perform with. The cast for Soul manages to be an extraordinarily talented and diverse ensemble with everyone bringing something special and genuine to the film through their voice acting work. There isn't one performance shown that feels uninspired or lacking enthusiasm with everyone making the most of their parts whether large or minimal. The film ultimately wouldn't be as uplifting and touching if it weren't for the effort put into making it work by its cast with both Foxx and Fey delivering the best work of the lot with everyone else getting their respective moments to shine.
The films directorial work by Pete Doctor is noteworthy with him not only managing to get great voice acting performances out of his enormously talented cast, but also giving the film a visual look that's utterly stunning and breathtaking to watch. The animation presented here is top notch with the films New York scenes both in daytime during the busy hours, as well as the evenings with the city lights shining and glowing with the stories Jazz setting kicking in, feeling authentic and well-sketched with a tremendous amount of attention being shown that went into detailing everything. The films scenes in the purgatory are top notch as well, adding to the distinct visual flare that the film carries. Doctor keeps the films story progressively moving with its steady pace, which allows both it as well as the characters to thoroughly develop naturally without feeling rushed. The films music score by Trent Reznor is well-put together and assembled with it combining elements of Jazz culture, while beautifully crafting its own original score that fits the films emotional tone along with being uplifting simultaneously. Whereas each Pixar movie carries their own distinct look and visual style which makes them appealing to audiences in a way that instantly draws them into the story immediately after the opening Disney logo appears, Soul proves to be no exception and faithfully follows the trend with Pete Doctor creating a world that's welcoming for the audience, while feeling self-reflective of current times. The characters in human form are amazingly drawn out and sketched with both the African-American characters and culture being properly represented in animated form. With Pixar's Soul, Doctor manages to do something special here in terms of helping break new ground for the studio in regards to diversity by placing the studios first major African-American character in a lead role, as well as positioning the film as being a celebration of ones personal and cultural heritage. Here, he gives the film an equal balance of being enchanting to watch visually while coming across as being emotionally powerful storytelling wise, ultimately making it feel like a huge amount of love went into crafting the films unique story.
Of all the essential elements that help make Soul such a rewarding and genuinely satisfying experience for audiences, its most important one is the films writing with its script being brilliantly penned by Doctor along with Kemp Powers and Mike Jones. The script for Soul works so well due to its balancing of all the essential themes it aspires to explore regarding missed opportunities in life, the desire to seek approval from parents, and discovering second chances in life. The character of Joe experiences all of these dilemmas with his character reflecting on the times he experienced disappointment with him feeling like he wasted time in his life due to not expanding on a music career, while trying to win the approval of his mother in pursuing playing jazz. The story of Soul is essentially an exploration of its main character with the film showing both his passion, as well as his inspiration for playing jazz along with his longing for a big break. The film also carries a philosophical tone to it with its exploring of the concept of death, and whether people lived their lives to the fullest or just wasted their time with life ultimately passing them by as evidenced by the character of Joe being shown the numerous moments in his life where he faced rejection, disappointment, failure, and ultimately experienced loneliness. The character of 22 compliments these themes and helps to further drive home the concept of receiving second chances with her character beginning to experience a different outlook on life when her character takes over Joe's body with the latter being forced to take the form of a cat in a scenario that's cleverly written and funny outside of its moments of sentimentality. The script is at its most interesting when it switches up the perspective of the main characters with 22 assuming Joe's physical form and learning about what he was lacking in his own life, as well as helping him overcome his own shortcomings while simultaneously showing her character becoming more appreciative towards life and wanting to remain in Joe's body to continue living it. The heart and soul of the film lies within the relationship of these two characters with the script showing both characters loneliness, as well as how they both inspired each other to become more appreciative of life and the opportunities it holds outside of being stuck in the purgatory. The side characters all help to drive home the films overall narrative with no one receiving an excessive amount of unnecessary buildup to the point where the story drifts off in another direction. The script for Soul remains both straight-forward and focused from start to finish with the true spark of the film lying on the relationship between the two main characters, who ultimately change each others lives for the better. The films writing has so many layers to it that make it more than just being a simple animated tale that lacks depth, but one that gets both philosophical and deep with its main message regarding the seizing of one's life, as well as making opportunities and dreams come true while inspiring others to change for the better much in the case of the character of 22 or the students Joe inspires with his class. The story is very much one about passion as it is about self-reflection and having pride in one's life.
For some audiences, the films subplot regarding Tina Fey's character 22, a character that's implied to be white, possessing the body of Joe, a character that's African-American, may come across as being off putting with them feeling like the story abandons Joe's subplot in exchange for him helping her character understand, as well as appreciate the positive elements of living with her ultimately wanting to continue in Joe's form. While that argument regarding the films narrative can be viewed as being understandable, the intention is not to detract from Joe's arc but to show how both him and 22 learn from each other in regards to understanding the others perspective with them discovering where each other have been lacking in their lives with both ultimately wanting another shot at it. The films end twist, though both clever and bittersweet, fits right in with the rest of the film in regards to further driving its main themes and overall message. Soul is not just a story about jazz but serves as being an experience that audiences witness with these characters with both ultimately looking at their own lives and asking the question of what have they done with their time, and ultimately realizing that both their dreams and aspirations are not worth giving up on. The story of Soul is one that's gentle yet throws some important life lessons at the audience with them never feeling forced or half-hearted. In delivering it's main message, both the filmmakers and Soul's talented cast go all in with giving audiences an experience that's as charming as previous Pixar entries, while asking them to step into the shoes of both Joe and 22's characters with their characters serving as mirrors for their own lives. Soul is the animated film that audiences didn't realize they absolutely needed in 2020 as it provides laughs, characters that they ultimately become connected with, and a story that feels more personal than the average Pixar work with its commanding desire to restore their will to live. As Soul shows, one's "spark" is not so much about the passion behind their chosen hobby, but rather their desire and willingness to live in the present moment. In a time where many find themselves losing that spark or feel helpless, Pixar instills them with hope and one couldn't ask for a better film nor studio to reinstate that feeling. Soul both rightfully and proudly stands as being one of the true cinematic gems and miracles of 2020.
Final Verdict: For both Disney fans and those who enjoy masterful storytelling in general, Pixar's Soul is a must see.
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