Soul

Pixar knows how to captivate, entertain and move the audience at the same time and Soul is another example that the "lamp" studio can serve up some truly amazing pieces. From a technical point of view, it is a breathtaking audio-visual spectacle, brimming with amazingly polished animation and a wonderful soundtrack. I appreciate the artistic depiction of the world of souls and its various characters, from the newly born souls, to (J/T)erry, to the sadly terrifying lost souls that reminded me of characters from Miyazaki's films. Pete Docter has breathed life (and soul) into another original world, one that evokes his previous film, Inside Out, yet is different in many ways. Story-wise, this is a very mature film that explores the meaning of our lives and their very nature, which is certainly not a foregone conclusion. While Inside Out and Coco grabbed my heart a wee bit more, Soul still deserves that full rating from me. (01/01/2021)

If it weren’t for the over-rushed ended, this could have been perfect once again. But Pixar is stopping making things for kids. Soul is a grown-up, complex, in places almost a horror movie and I would say that half-pints just won’t understand it. But still, this is first class work. A beautiful world and loads of imagination. (10/01/2021)

Although it was expected this time, it’s never been more painful to see the way creators are forced to compromise. The purely adult material is diluted by a child’s perspective that doesn’t fit the coherence of the story as smoothly as in the past. Think about this: Coco sent a normal young boy into a symbolic world of existential ideas, taking him through a visually captivating environment where he learnt through his own childish perspective, all lead by funny fictional protagonists who told an intellectually dense story in the style of a circus attraction. Soul, in contrast, has an adult protagonist who envisages a more mature view of the world and who remains an adult even while his soul is in a symbolic environment. It’s therefore clear that this film is meant mostly for adults, and it’s naturally hurt by the fact that the story follows pretty much expected paths and ends so contrived and lacking conflict. The world-building is great and the story is nice to watch, but it can never be fun, silly, or inspiring enough when everything is so broadly aimed at solid family well-being. It’s not a bad movie, it’s just lacklustre and rather rushed, which is quite surprising for Pixar. 70% (27/12/2020)

The new Pixar movie is certainly a very imaginative movie, with very good thought-provoking subject matter, which even provides acceptable answers to questions like "What is the meaning of life?". I really like the soundtrack, especially the jazz music and Trent Reznor's contributions (and you can tell it is him!), so I am definitely satisfied with that aspect. The animation is also excellent (albeit so very Pixar...). This is definitely quite a substantial movie in terms of subject matter, which is food for thought, however, for some reason, I did not enjoy this movie as much this time around as I just did not leave with that unforgettable feeling the Pixar studio's best animated movies left me with. Despite that, however, I am still awarding Soul a strong four stars, 8.4/10. (26/12/2020)

It’s stiffly nice and it may take a little too much time to cut to the chase, but once it settles into its pleasantly adult and slightly surreal tone, it has moments of near-miraculousness. Pixar growing up is a good thing. It had a childishly playful core in its head, but this is more about adult creativity and the very personal theme of finding meaning and anchoring in the life that passes through the main character's hands. It's good that Pixar has abandoned the anthropomorphizing of nonsense for kids and started having a dialogue with parents in midlife crisis. God knows we need a caress like that more than our kids. (10/06/2021)