Pixar is, arguably, the greatest studio in Hollywood history. Even the movies that are sub-par or aren’t nearly the quality of some of the other ones (we’re looking at you Cars 2), Pixar has struck magic with almost every movie the put out. From Toy Story, Inside Out or the recent fantasy adventure with Onward, Pixar always innovates their storytelling, while their animation continues to as dazzling and immaculate as ever before. The most important aspect about the majority of Pixar’s repertoire is while the animation and characters are designed for kids to enjoy, the story and substance of them are what make them geared towards adults, which is why Pixar succeeds most of the time. Something like Cars is stuff that is geared way more to children than older audiences and while kids will certainly enjoy Incredibles or even Finding Nemo, the themes, jokes and certain aspects will be way over kids heads. But again, that speaks to the beauty of a good Pixar movie. Now, we all thought Inside Out was Pixar’s game changer for their storytelling and profundity. Without any question, Soul is Pixar’s most deep, subversive and captivating narrative since Inside Out. The animation is outstanding, the music is incredible and the significance of its message is timeless. We need to start praising Pete Doctor as a storyteller because he’s one of the best that there is.
Joe, a middle-school band teacher, has come to a point in his life where things haven’t turned out the way he wanted them to be. Joe’s biggest passion that’s been running through his blood since he was a kid is jazz — and he’s quite good at it. But when life for Joe has other plans, his soul is then taken to a world beyond our own and then assists another soul on finding themselves and their purpose and Joe then understands the true purpose of having a soul.
Soul transcends the magic and the impact of what makes a great Pixar movie timeless. Where Inside Out took a trip in the mind and making our own personalities characters and how other personalities overlap with one another, Soul dives even deeper in our souls (no pun) and showcases what kind of potential each and every individual has deep down inside their souls (again, no pun). The style, atmosphere and overall scope of this movie is a complete paradigm shift of anything Pixar has done in the past, yet it still carried the poignancy of a movie like an Inside Out, but something about Soul just feels more heavy but in a beautiful and powerful way. Soul magnificently handles its messages and themes with grand effect that makes this the best piece of art that genuinely reflects a portrait of humanity. It’s moving, incredibly insightful and it’s yet another home run for Pixar.
We say this every Pixar movie, and with any other animation studio, but with Pixar in particular their animation is beyond astonishing. The animation in Soul is almost impossible to fully describe just how stunning it actually is. The close up of characters hands, from the shots of people walking in the streets of New York City and especially the design of the each soul and “the great beyond” is some of the best animation ever put to the screen. The animation for Pixar keeps evolving to greater levels and there’s no telling what a Pixar movie is going to look like 10 years from now, and Soul almost wants to brag about how elegant and sensational it looks. All this has to be credited to Pete Doctor (Up, Monsters Inc and Inside Out) has such wonderful handle with gorgeous and appealing animation and offer a story that’s grand and almost philosophical.
The voice work from Jaime Foxx is Tina Fey is also quite good. Jaime Foxx and Tina Fey have already shown their great talents in many pieces of work and all of which that make them world class and respected workers in Hollywood. Sometimes we don’t always need a big name to voice an animated character because it’s not always about the actor in a situation like this. It’s really about the character, but Foxx gives a great performance as Joe Gardner. Gardner is a character that’s full of desires and an insatiable appetite to be a great jazz artist, and Foxx’s vocal performance makes the character stand out even more. He also shares a great vocal chemistry with the hilarious Tina Fey, who does a great job with the comedic timing in this movie from the very beginning.
At the end of this movie, it’s safe to say that many other people who stumble upon this are going to have a variety of interpretations as what Soul is essentially about. That being said, Soul has such a universal message that makes this movie accessible for anyone living on this planet. Soul is another masterpiece for Pixar and considering this movie never got the theatrical treatment, you’re still in good hands by watching it at home for holidays.
My grade for Soul: A
Zane's take at the Cinema's 