From your heart’s fire –
Pixar’s clever appropriation of D&D, fantasy lore is anchored by a memorable story.
Sam Machkovech – Mar 6, : (UTC UTC )
, they must join forces to figure out a magical mystery. ” src=”https://cdn.arstechnica.net/wp-content/uploads/ / / vlcsnap – – – – (h) (m) s – (x) . png “>
Pixar’s latest feature-length film, Onward , does not reach US theaters until March 6, and it’s rare for us at Ars Technica to review a film so far in advance of its launch. When we do, it’s usually for good reason.
On ‘s case, that’s because we haven’t seen a film so easy to recommend to Ars Technica readers in years. We know our average demographic: parents and older readers who are deeply fluent in decades of nerd culture and who appreciate films that offer genuine laughs, likable characters, and tightly sewn logic in family-friendly fashion without compromising the dialogue, plot, or heart— or beating an original, previously beloved franchise into the ground. Pixar has come out screaming with a film that feels focus-tested for that exact audience, and I’m already eager to attend the film again in two weeks.
“Historically based adventure simulator”
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Tom Holland does a solid job of selling his character Ian’s anxiety without becoming overbearing or obnoxious about it. For a coming-of-age story, that’s no small feat for a voice actor.
Chris Pratt’s performance as Barley is one of his most likeable yet, especially once we learn more about why he’s such a fearless teenager.
In Onward universe’s , TV aerobics are a thing …
… but they have a different kind of host.
The family’s rambunctious pet dragon gets the squirt gun again.
As a domesticated dragon, Blazey’s spark is
not worse than his bite.You people can have your Baby Yoda. I’d prefer a Blazey doll, please.
Ian and his mom Laurel (Julia Louis-Dreyfuss) make plans for his 27 th birthday.
Laurel’s facial animations are among the most heartfelt in the film.
“I’m going to clomp to the count of three.”
In the years since magic ruled the land, things have changed for the town’s manticore.
The brothers were expecting a different kind of manticore encounter.
I for one never tire of gags that revolve around the Sorcerer’s Apprentice outfit.
Laurel and the manticore eventually team up.
I’m not going to say much about the film’s fairies, other than to say how much I love them.
We’ve seen our fair share of fantasy genre satires and comedies, but Onward
delivers the most fully fledged, top-to-bottom homage to the fantasy genre sinceMonty Python and the Holy Grail sent up all things King Arthur. To be clear, Pixar’s newest universe of characters draws more from the Dungeons & Dragons well of magical, class-based adventuring with its own twist.The rest of this review contains minor plot spoilers to connect the dots about why I like Pixar’s twists on conventional fantasy wisdom. I have made an effort to otherwise leave certain plot points and jokes unspoiled, but if you’d like to go into the film completely blind, consider this a warning.
presupposes that Earth’s history is rich with dragons, wizards, elves, fairies, unicorns, centaurs, and the like. Though Onward
Warning: the further you go in this gallery, the more spoilers you’ll find. (I’ve chosen not to post the most spoiler-y things from existing trailers, at least.)
The brothers pause at an underpass on their way to Raven’s Point, and Ian tries to use magic to save the day.
Pixar
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