Review: Disney and Pixar's "Soul"

Disney’s Soul debuted on the Disney+ streaming service on Christmas, and while its release might have been a little overshadowed by the much-hyped Wonder Woman 1984, Pixar’s latest is both a successful application of their tried and true formula, and a refreshing update to it. The animated feature does lack some of the pop and zany wit that its fellow recent Pixar release, Onward, which was named one of our top 10 films of 2020, but it’s intensely heartfelt with a beautiful message about self-acceptance and following your passion, and has enough laughs to counter the intense subject matter so that everyone remains entertained all the way to the end.

Once again, the story sticks very close to the general plot beats that Pixar has been hitting since Toy Story. The story of Soul follows Joe Gardner, an underachieving part-time middle school band teacher who still has grand hopes of hitting it big as a jazz pianist. However, on the eve of his big break, thanks to a connection from a former student looking to payback a teacher who made an impact on his life, Joe steps into a open manhole and sadly passes away.

That, however, is only the start of the adventure, as Joe is too consumed with fulfilling his dreams of musical stardom that he refuses to enter the “Great Beyond” and, instead, finds himself in a realm of endless hypothetical possibility where potential souls have to earn their spark before heading to Earth to live.

If that sounds existential and confusing, that’s because it is, but the bleak nature of the beginning and end of life is surrounded by plenty of bright colors and silly voices (for some reason all the eternal constructs running the afterworld have Australian accents) that the kiddos can keep up and enjoy the show without getting bogged down with heady and abstract concepts.

And while these theoretical musings set the foundation for the film, it’s the story of Joe mentoring 22, a wayward soul that would rather remain a preconceived notion of a person that attempt living, that’s the heart. Through their interaction, Joe’s seeming obsession with jazz is shown as both a strength, as it provided him purpose, and a negative, as it was so all-consuming that it didn’t leave him time for anything else.

Moreover, it pushes both 22 and Joe to confront their inadequacies, which they eventually overcome. The end is a little on the nose, but that’s exactly how it should be. Not every story needs to have a Shyamalan-Esque twist. Things turn out well, with everyone learning their lesson and moving onto the next phase of their lives, whatever that may entail.

Jamie Foxx is perfectly cast as the voice of Joe, able to play up the earnestness and hopeful nature of the character in a way that was convincing and honest. However, the overall pacing was a little slow and there were parts, especially the first 20 minutes or so, that really drag. Also, the relationships, especially the one between Joe and his mother, which is an emotional crux of the piece, needed more extrapolation. The catharsis that should have come from her finally understanding Joe’s infatuation with jazz falls flat because there wasn’t enough context for why she disapproved.

This, though, is a small gripe in what is an excellent entry in Pixar’s film catalog. The animation is amazing, as always, and it’s clear that everyone was trying to make this production something unique and special that would have a timeless kind of appeal. Soul may not prove to have the rewatch value of The Incredibles or Monsters Inc., but it’s a thoughtful character piece that will settle next to Ratatouille as one of those Pixar films you know is great, but don’t really want to watch very often.