'Soul' Review

Nominated For: Best Animated Feature, Best Sound, and Best Original Score.

Won: Best Animated Feature and Best Original Score.

Synopsis: Joe Gardner is a middle-school teacher with a love for jazz music. After a successful gig at the Half Note Club, he suddenly gets into an accident that separates his soul from his body and is transported to the You Seminar, a center in which souls develop and gain passions before being transported to a newborn child. Joe must enlist help from the other souls-in-training, like 22, a soul who has spent eons in the You Seminar, in order to get back to Earth. 

Runtime: 100 minutes

MPAA Rating: PG (for thematic elements and some language)

Who should see it? Families and fans of Pixar.

Joining Pixar's catalog, Soul is the twenty-third feature from the eclectic animation studio. This year, Pixar released two of their first original films since Coco after a recent string of sequels. Unfortunately, both had their box office hopes dashed by the ongoing pandemic. Onward's theatrical run was cut short by theater closures, only for it to be fast-tracked to VOD and Disney+, while Soul forewent a theatrical release altogether and was released exclusively on Disney+ for Christmas. Release circumstances withstanding, Soul was co-directed by Kemp Powers and Pete Docter with a story and screenplay by Powers, Docter, and Mike Jones. Of this year's two Pixar releases, Soul was the one I was most anticipating for a few reasons. For one, it seemed to offer a more innovative premise and a unique animation style based on trailers. Secondly, the film had an exciting blend of creative voices behind the scenes. 

Soul is Powers's directorial debut and stands as the fourth feature credit for Docter. Pete Docter's involvement stuck out as he previously co-directed Monsters, Inc., Up, and Inside Out, three films I rank among Pixar's very best. Docter also happens to be Pixar's Chief Creative Officer, so I found it fascinating that this story compelled him to jump back in the trenches and shepherd a budding filmmaker. Pixar's filmography continually covers complex topics in an easy-to-digest manner, entertaining and moving audiences of all ages. You'd think this creative well might run dry after twenty-five years of storytelling... Well, think again because Soul is Pixar at its most imaginative, emotional, and existential. 

Central to Soul are universal musings over life's meaning and the blurred line between passion and unhealthy obsession. Ultimately, Docter and Powers implore the viewer to take a deep breath and enjoy the little things. Fixating on one's purpose and self-worth is simply not good for the soul. Though, Soul has much more to offer than resonant messaging. It's gorgeously animated with a tremendous amount of detail and vibrancy. The world-building is also well worth mentioning, as "The Great Before" and "The Great Beyond" are fascinating, fleshed-out locales for the audience to explore. Even New York feels fully realized as an environment with a personality of its own, true to life. While awe-inspiring, the settings never overtake the story, as Docter, Powers, and Jones are careful not to get lost in the vast world they've created. The cohesive element holding everything together, though, is the soundtrack featuring jazz compositions and arrangements by Jon Batiste as well as an original score from Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross. 

It only makes sense for music to play a pivotal role in a movie about a musician. And the music featured in Soul is incredibly varied, ranging from upbeat jazz riffs to a soothing, ethereal synth to melancholy melodies. While Docter, Powers, Jones, and the animators establish the framework for a sincere story with breathtaking visuals, Batiste, Reznor, and Ross make it sing. Their soundtrack is seriously transcendent at times, and an ear-worm for sure!

Leading the gifted voice cast, Jamie Foxx lends dweebish, impassioned qualities to Joe Gardner, while Tina Fey's 22 is a mischievous and stubborn source of comic relief. Their dynamic brings plenty of heart and levity to the proceedings. They're also backed by a host of compelling supporting characters in the human and soul worlds, voiced by Graham Norton, Phylicia Rashad, Angela Bassett, Donnell Rawlings, Daveed Diggs, and Questlove, respectively. Within the soul world, there are abstract constructs called Counselor Jerry(s), portrayed by Alice Braga, Richard Ayoade, Wes Studi, Fortune Feimster, and Zenobia Shroff. Rachel House's Terry is a colleague of theirs who seeks to keep things in order, obsessing over ensuring the correct count of souls enters "The Great Beyond."

The first ballad between Docter and Powers stirs the soul, occupies the mind, and unfastens the tear ducts. Soul rivals the beauty and sincerity of Pixar's most cherished work and will resonate even more in the years to come. As someone who's loved quite a few Pixar releases since Toy Story 3, I don't say this lightly... Soul is, without a doubt, the best film released by the studio in the last decade. It's such a shame it had to debut on Disney+ because this would have been incredible to experience in theaters. However, I take solace, knowing it will be safely seen by audiences of all ages. 

Film Assessment: A+

'Hunt for the Wilderpeople' Review

In Hunt for the Wilderpeople young foster child Ricky Baker and foster parent Uncle Hec get caught up in a manhunt after a huge misunderstanding getting lost in the New Zealand wilderness. Hunt for the Wilderpeople is written and directed by Taika Waititi and is an adaptation of the book Wild Pork and Watercress authored by Barry Crump.

Waititi proves he's a gifted director worthy of taking on the upcoming Thor: Ragnarok as he shepherds this bonkers concept, meshing a Wes Anderson-inspired peculiar style and tone with what is essentially the barebone concept of Up without managing to rip off either. This film feels totally fresh and unlike most of Hollywood's offerings today and that's probably why I took such a liking to it (It probably would have slipped in my Top 10 Movies of 2016 list or at least the Honarable Mentions if I had seen it last year). 

Hunt for the Wilderpeople is a buddy movie that pairs an optimistic child with a grumpy old man, something that could have gone wrong in so many ways. However, Waititi and his two leads strike the right balance so that the kid isn't unbearably talkative or obnoxious and the old man isn't so bitter enough to become unlikable. Waititi cleverly nods his head to blockbusters such as Lord of the Rings and The Terminator while crafting some eccentric characters in his stylized world. Taika Waititi's screenplay is quirky and hilarious with dialogue that had me laughing hysterically and a heartfelt story about family at its core. The lush New Zealand landscape is beautifully captured by cinematographer Lachlan Milne, everything's well cut together by editors Tom Eagles, Yana Gorskaya, and Luke Haigh, and the score from Lukasz Patel Buda, Samuel Scott, and Conrad Wedde is simultaneously outlandish and adventurous. 

Julian Dennison brings a delightful aura to Ricky Baker, starstruck at the idea of being a gangster and quipping some fantastic one liners, that's excellently juxtaposed by Sam Neill's weary and bitter Uncle Hec, who matches the kid quip for quip. Dennison and Neill make quite the pair of runaways, with a kooky dynamic not to be found in any of last year's other releases. Julian Dennison is yet another fantastic child actor from 2016, they seem to be sprouting out just about everywhere, and while this isn't his debut it's certainly a breakout performance that could garner him some more work.

Neill, of Jurassic Park fame, could have easily fallen into the caricature of the rugged man but injects Hec with more humanism than one would expect and delivers one of the more memorable performances of his career. Other performances worth noting include Rima Te Wiata's sweet Aunt Bella, Rachel House's tough social worker, and Rhys Darby's Psycho Sam. Oh, and I can't forget Waititi's hysterical cameo where he delivers a eulogy as the local priest.

In summary, Hunt for the Wilderpeople features unconventional direction and a charming pair of lead characters that make it a delightfully zany nonsensical film that we rarely see these days, not as weird as say Swiss Army Man, but definitely not mainstream either. It's currently available to stream on Hulu and the home media market in general so I advise you check it out sometime!

Film Assessment: A