Soul

Last year, I ended the (much more normal) movie-going year by checking out Little Women alone, after a workout. Out of nowhere, it became one of my favorite films of that year, landing in my Top 10 and giving me a incredibly satisfying end to Rath's Review's 2019. 

I won't necessarily call it a streak yet...maybe if 2021 gives me the same gift...but Soul is easily going to make the Rath Awards and, even more than Little Women, it's puts a poignant end to a year where many things didn't look the same, including the movies and Rath's Reviews. 

Much could be said about Pixar that I know I've delved into in recent reviews. The best way I can put it now? They're a "normal" studio at this point. They have their highs and lows (which are really just "good") and their incredible streak of classics is behind them in the past. It is what it is and honestly? It's unrealistic for us as movie goers to think that everything they touch will turn to gold. 

Soul is their newest film, with a complicated release due to the pandemic, that is now available to stream on Disney+. Even better? There's not an obnoxious $30 paywall like there was for Mulan, so this is something you can queue up right as you finish those final [glorious] episodes of The Mandalorian. It's a film that I struggle to describe because I feel like many aspects of it are "spoilery" in terms of where it goes but think of it as Pixar's evolution of Inside Out, but instead of inner emotions, it's about the core of who you are as a person...your purpose...your, ahem, soul.

We're introduced to Jamie Foxx's Joe who is a middle school band teacher, aging, and trying to get "that gig" where he can play jazz full time as a pianist. We meet him at a time in his life where he's struggling because there's the "safe" option laid out before him to accept the full time role at the school that comes with salary, benefits, etc. or continue to search for the gig that seems to elude him. A potential big break finds him and as he's deliriously celebrating, he falls down a man hole and "dies". If you're thinking, "Damn, Jordan! This sounds heavy for an animated film!" that's because it is, but it comes coupled with that usual Pixar charm and thoughtfulness. Think of Up's first 10 minutes but not nearly as soul crushing. We're then introduced to the soul realm and the Great Beyond that feel like some of the most innovative, original, and mature ideas Pixar has ever put on film. If it's not obvious yet, Soul is a film that will make you think about your own life, regardless of your religion or belief of what happens after it. This isn't a film about heaven, it's a film about human life and human purpose. I commented to my fiancé, as we discussed the film after wiping away our tears, that most Pixar films are children's films with adult elements. Soul feels like it leans more the other way...a distinctly adult film with children elements. I'd even venture to say that kids may not totally enjoy this one the same way they would a Toy Story or Incredibles. 

Immensely colorful, much to the benefit of the film

This is one of those Pixar films that will stick with you long after you see it. In fact, I can't stop thinking about it. And perhaps one of the best aspects here is that a lot of it is up to interpretation. I've seen several comment boards suggesting it takes a really pessimistic tone to "the meaning of life" while I had a totally different takeaway. Really having a deep discussion about it here would enter spoiler territory, but suffice it to say this has an element that will be with you for long after you see it, despite what you believe in about what happens when we die. Like the best of movies tend to have. 

Plot aside, what would a Pixar film be without humorous and colorful characters though? Overall there's far less characters in Soul than many of Pixar's other films that have significant casts, but what's here is impactful. Foxx's Joe is a full rounded character who goes on a journey that we all will/have been on: why am I on this earth? What am I really trying to achieve? Tina Fey's "22" is a soul that doesn't want to leave the U Seminar and she's been in a purgatory state for years having never lived on earth. It's through her sassy, but excited performance that Joe begins to find the answers to these questions and their chemistry belongs right up there with some of the best Pixar duos. In addition to them we have some amusing, often funny side characters like Terry and all of the Counselors at the U Seminar named Jerry who are mutli-dimensional constructs placed in physical form so that our feeble human minds may understand them. Soul is not void on humor and I had more than a good handful of laughs throughout. Is it the funniest Pixar movie ever? No, but not every new Pixar film needs to seek out that accomplishment. 

Like most great films, Soul has some secret weapons. Sure it's got plenty of imagination, and a thought-provoking plot and ending, and a great cast of voice actors but it's the animation and music that push it over the top. Pixar is known for some of the most intricate, detailed animation in the industry and Soul is no different. In Joe's "real world" everything but the exaggerated character designs is highly realistic. A few still images would likely fool you. In the soul realm, there's plenty of color and imagination with hundreds of hues of green, blue, and purple. And in between these spaces is where Pixar does its best Christopher Nolan impression with psychedelic interpretations of various "between time and space" moments. Then we get to Soul's original score. Half of it is jazz-based with funky beats and a timeless stylistic tone that goes a long way to mood setting. The other half, from Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross, is something I'd expect to find in the best of sci-fi films, full of synthesizers and moving/stirring moments. It hits particularly hard in the film's final moments, creating immediate emotional gut-punches that feel equal parts sad and epic because of the music. I often speak of original scores that elevate the film's they're in and Soul's is now my newest example. 

And once it's all said and done, as Soul's credits roll, I imagine you'll find parallels to the hellscape of a year we've had in 2020 and the core themes of this movie. Perhaps why I was getting emotional at the end was less because of the plot itself, but also because 2020 seems like a year many of us would deem as "lost". Accomplishments that didn't happen. Goals not met. Experiences not had. One of my takeaways from Soul is that each one of those things did happen in 2020, for all of us, you just may have to search a little harder for what they are. 

CONS

• Part of me wishes it had gone there with the ending, but it also works beautifully without having done so
• I would have liked a few more laughs, or an additional recurring joke

PROS

• An adult-themed and thought-provoking plot. The fact it has so much room for interpretation is part of its genius as it will apply in the way you see best fit, based on what you believe
• Highly original take on the "afterlife" that offers up humor and interesting rules
• Memorable cast of characters that's smaller than most Pixar films, but no less impactful. Foxx and Fey are an awesome duo
• Packs in the classic Pixar humor that's good, clean laughs along with the emotional punch
• Impeccable animation that swings between realistic, playful and colorful, and fully experimental
• An original score that's on double duty with the jazz pieces and the sci-fi elements. One of the best of the year (and likely even recent years)
• A highly original Pixar film that may be more adult-skewed than previous entries, but is one of the best movies I've seen in a long time

Rath's Review Score |

10/10 - Instant Classic