I definitely remember Dad having a top half

Continuing my trip up Empire's top 20 films of 2020

#18 : Onward

Released just before the pandemic ramped up, Pixar's adventure fell prey to cinema closures – but turned out to be the ideal film for lockdown, with its fantastical escapism, gags galore, and themes celebrating the life-affirming bonds of family. Director Dan Scanlon drew from intensely personal details of his own upbringing and the father he never got to know, channelling it into the story of elf brothers Ian and Barley Lightfoot (a charming Tom Holland and Chris Pratt) as they embark on a magical quest to meet their deceased dad for one day only. In true Pixar style, it's incredibly emotional – with a beautiful final reel that delivers what audiences need rather than what they maybe wanted. But it's also a big, joyous adventure flick, with thrilling setpieces, D&D references aplenty, a surprising elf-mom action hero, and genius sight gags. Onward brought cathartic laughs and tears in a year when people really needed both.

Skipping over Da 5 Bloods (#19), we come to this - which is an interesting one because I've already seen it but don't remember an awful lot about it. So obviously I should just watch it again to remind myself as to what goes on, shouldn't I?

Well, here's the rub - I don't want to. I remember it being perfectly fine - funny and emotional enough with a decent enough story, with decent enough voice acting. What I don't remember it having is "thrilling setpieces", "genius sight gags" or "cathartic laughs and tears". It was, well, fine and I'm pretty certain that rewatching it is not going to change my mind.

A lot of the problem with second (or lower) tier Pixar films is what they get compared against. I was surprised that rottentomatoes.com has this ranked at #20 (out of 28) in their Pixar list but I'd struggle to justify it any higher than #15 (it has Wall-E at #14, after all). 

If you like that Pixar vibe and you've not caught this (which feels unlikely) then it's available (unsurprisingly) on Disney+ and I'd certainly not put you off it - I just feel it's unlikely you're going to be rushing back to it.

#20 - Cleverly done
#17 - Maybe too clever for its own good?

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