Jazzing tale about life
Disney Pixar’s new film Soul, which is now coming straight to Disney+, will most likely be my last new release cinema experience this year. In a year with so many ups and downs, mainly downs, its sad to watch an experience I love so much to struggle so much. Pixar’s Soul is all about finding your purpose, what you love to do. This year is so strange, alarming and unsettling for many and maybe releasing Soul on Disney+ right before new years is actually perfect but there is a lot that people can learn from it.
In Soul, we follow Joe Gardner (Jamie Fox, a jazz musician who feels he is stuck being a middle school band teacher. After Joe auditions for his one shot and get it he falls down a manhole to his potential death. Joe finds himself in a world surrounded by new souls and must help Soul 22 (Tina Fey) discover what she wants to be in order to get himself back into his body.
Let’s get the obvious out of the way. The animation, as always is extremely fantastic! Whether its the photorealism of characters in New York or just the interesting choices in the world before filled with Soul and wireframe style characters that transform. There is one element especially which I don’t want to ruin but the character is hidden each time and you know they’re there in the scene but they’re so well placed and designed that it’s just crazy.
Going into Soul with as little knowledge of the plot and characters is key for this Pixar film. Pixar does a great job with their trailers to show off the film without actually revealing too many details. Soul didn’t end up turning out how I expected it to be. It is certainly a film that creates a great Pixar trilogy of Inside Out, Coco and Soul in terms of dealing with before, after and during life itself.
Its all quite heavy for a kids film to be fair. You can always rely on Pixar to tell a story that other animation studios aren’t telling. Pixar is certainly the leaders of story, unless its Cars 2. They also know how to make a film for both kids and adults.
Whilst the film is filled with moments for kids to laugh at and have fun with there are also plenty of moments for Pixar’s older fans. I’ve long struggled with trying to figure out what I want to do with my life, what I want to be doing and if what I am doing is really the right road for me to go down. Soul tries it’s best to answer these questions and many like me will feel the weight of the film’s emotional journey.
For kids its a great lesson in life to learn early on. In the same way, but not as emotionally, that kids can learn about their emotions and feelings in Inside Out, for Soul kids can learn about their journey in life. Ever felt like you’re stuck and don’t know what to do? Soul has moments for that. Ever felt like maybe what you’re doing is really making you happy but you’re not sure? Soul has an answer for that too.
Pixar has created a story that works really well, its execution of that story can be sometimes stopped and start as the film is quite short. At just over 90 minutes it is a lot to pack in there as well as character journeys. Soul struggles with going one way with the film and just about reaching that emotional high point before changing course quickly and focusing on the next scene.
At first, I thought this was because it felt like a lot was cut out of the film but it ultimately lies with the film’s score. Pixar scores make you cry, at least, at least they make me cry. Add those scores in with Pixar’s beautiful storytelling and you have a tear factory in every cinema. The two scores used in Soul just don’t have that same addition to the overall story like previous Pixar films. In an interview beforehand the directors Pete Doctor and Kemp Powers talked about how for the first time the score was made along with the film and not created afterwards and maybe that could be the issue but it would be hard to tell without seeing the full creative process.
The film is split with two scores, one for New York by Jonathon Batiste and one for the other world or Soul world by Trent Reznor & Atticus Ross. Both scores sound great and Reznor & Ross’ score is certainly different for a Pixar film but when the two scores are used and mixed it can be both jarring and distracting as opposed to a perfect synchronisation that adds to the story. It is a little disappointing considering its a Pixar film about a musician.
Soul is certainly a film worth watching, I don’t think it’ll break into many Pixar fans top five but it caps off a great Pixar trilogy about life. It’s sad that people won’t get to experience its beautiful animation in the cinema on a big screen but it is also a film that I feel like a lot of people need to see and learn from so being available on Disney+ might just be the best place for it.
With its beautiful animation, jazzing and thought-provoking story and fantastic voice acting Pixar’s Soul is another fantastic film by Pixar. Pixar is once again the great animation storytellers and one of the best storytellers in all of film. Soul is a movie that can help many people learn about their life whilst also being an enjoyable ride.