Here’s my Onward review which stars Tom Holland and Chris Pratt and directed by Dan Scanlon. It’s distributed locally by Walt Disney Studios Philippines.

Brother Ian and Barley get the chance of a lifetime when they find out that their father set up a visitation spell for them when both of them hit past the age of 16. Something goes awry and they end up with the bottom half of their deceased father and 24 hours to complete the spell before the visitation spell ends. Now the brothers go on an adventure of a lifetime where they discover friendship, family and magic.

Honestly this is Peter Parker once more with Tom Holland. He’s an adorable and awkward teenager who wants to blend in and more importantly wishes to meet his father who passed away before he was born. And the same goes for Chris Pratt who plays Barley in this movie. He’s pretty much Star-Lord amplified to the Nth level. Only he’s more addicted to Dungeons and Dragons than 80s popular culture. He’s also more of the clumsy big brother who always looks out for his little brother.

The dynamics between these two is memorable too because it genuinely feels like they are siblings with the older Pratt being this cool and weird bro. Kudos to the production and creative team for finding a way to make these two stars look just like their characters without having to sacrifice animation quality. Like there are some scenes where you can straight up think and visualize the two Hollywood A-listers in the screen and not blue goofy elves.

The two subplots here that I liked were the concept of family which I consider fresh because we haven’t really seen a Disney movie that puts brotherhood front and center. Oh wait, there’s “Brother Bear”… yeah. But this one’s better in my opinion especially since its paired up with absentee fathers. Magic is the second subplot that really propped up the movie for me. I just like the fantasy and the lore that they are referencing throughout the movie.

Onwards isn’t a great movie to re-watch to be honest. It’s quite satisfying with one viewing but I wouldn’t see it the second or a third time though.

Some jokes for me wasn’t all that good. Some were just “hehe” but most had an effect still. But top of my head, I don’t remember a really funny bit. I actually laughed a lot at that scene that involves crossing a chasm and that was also the one scene that really made everybody in the press screening laugh hard. Maybe its the way the story was just written with jokes playing second fiddle and just be there to break monotony. I did laugh at some of the portions at the third act, so that counts.

I loved how they made the “Wizard” class a fun and interesting character class to choose for combat. As an RPG fan, I never did fancy the spellcasters but thanks to “Onward”, I may have to reconsider how I look at magical class characters and/or spellcasters. Thanks Disney!

Onward Review – Verdict

8/10

Overall, I think Onward was a good movie. Not really the best compared to other Pixar movies. Its not as bad as Cars in my honest opinion but it could have been better. There’s barely any connection between me (as a viewer) and the characters. There were semblances but its not. I actually had more concern for the Manticore (Octavia Spencer) and the boys’ mother; too bad we never get to explore it that much.

Special thanks to Walt Disney Studios Philippines for the invite! Onward opens March 5!