Soul (2020) Review

by Jared Kluttz

Is Soul another Pixar classic?

Preface

This is probably the most adult Pixar movie thus far, exploring themes about life, death, goals, expectations, and purpose. These themes will likely go right over kids' heads, so honestly, this movie feels like it was made mostly for adults, being different from the usual Pixar formula of kids movies that have deeper meanings that adults can resonate with. Soul wears its themes on its sleeve. 

Plot

Soul follows the life of Joe Gardner, a middle school band teacher who longs for a career as a professional jazz musician. He finally gets a chance to make this a reality, but falls down a manhole and ends up as a soul on a bridge heading to "The Great Beyond". Obviously, he gets off the bridge because if not, the movie would be significantly shorter. He ends up in "The Great Before", a world where souls are created and sent into the world. The Great Before is an interesting concept to explore. It's interesting to see how the movie explains the creation of souls, focusing on how personalities and interests are created and how souls become ready to head to Earth. The Great Beyond, in contrast, is not explored at all, which is something I appreciate. The Great Beyond is simply a ball of light in the sky and it's where souls go after death. It doesn't try to lean into any religions or biases or anything like that and I'm thankful that it avoided that potential issue altogether (not that I think Pixar would try to be preachy). Joe's goal throughout the movie is to get back into his own body so he can fulfill his dream of being a professional jazz pianist, accompanied by a soul named Soul 22 who wants to avoid living on Earth in a body at all costs. The plot is interesting because it takes us through an exploration of the connection between soul and body, the "soul world", the human condition, and a bit of character study, all while trying to get back to his own body so he can accomplish his dreams. These are all really interesting things to think about that kept me entertained and caused me to think about these things after the credits rolled. 

Themes

Throughout the the movie, different events transpire that lead both the characters and the audience to think about what their purpose on Earth is or if people can have more than one purpose or if a purpose is even necessary as well as how to live and view one's life. One particular theme it touched on that I think is particularly relatable to everyone is how we all have goals in our lives we want to achieve (whether it be a job, starting a family, getting married, simply growing up, etc.) and when we finally achieve this, we think we should feel different. However, this isn't always the case, and once this occurs one has to find something else to give their life meaning. The big central message I took away from this movie is that meaning can be found in the little things and we should appreciate the gift of life itself and live our lives to the fullest. The nice thing about this movie is that it doesn't explicitly state its central message, so each viewer can take away something different from it and can also find takeaways from the many other scenes and themes in the movie. This film definitely makes me think more than any other Pixar movie I've seen before.

Characters and Cast

The two main voice talents in Soul are Jamie Foxx as Joe and Tina Fey as Soul 22. Both actors do a great job, with Jamie Foxx particularly standing out to me. The only other movie I've seen him in is The Amazing Spider-Man 2, so I was surprised to see how good of an actor he is when he isn't delivering terrible dialogue. Joe and 22 also have nice character arcs they go through during the movie. They're simple, but effective and prevent our two leads from being completely static and makes you care about what happens to them. Unlike a lot of other Pixar movies, there isn't really a central villain. The closest thing to a villain in this movie is someone who is simply doing their job. I really appreciate this though because so many Pixar movies have followed the twist villain template and it has started to become predictable. Soul's lack of a typical villain made things much less predictable but still added some tension. 

Other aspects

It almost goes without saying, but the animation in this movie is great. It's not quite as jaw-dropping as some other entries in the Pixar catalog, but there are times when settings look like real rooms and places. The characters in The Great Before are animated excellently, with some characters being two dimensional and some being 3D. There's also a surprising amount of humor in this film considering its subject matter about death. The humor is clever and made me chuckle audibly at times and it strayed away from low bar comedy such as slapstick or fart jokes.

Flaws

The only flaws I see in Soul are ones that don't apply to me, but they are flaws that may hurt how well the movie does. Of course, it never made it to theaters so it doesn't really matter, but I think a lot of kids will skip this film. Some parents may not want to show it to their kids due to the themes being somewhat sensitive. Additionally, most of the themes will probably go over kids' heads and there isn't a lot of flashy action, so whatever kids do watch it probably won't choose to watch it again if they have other options, such as Toy Story or Monsters Inc. However, this doesn't really apply to me since I'm not a kid and I don't have kids of my own. 

Soul is another solid entry in the Pixar catalog that makes the viewer ponder their own place in the universe through an entertaining, relatable, and visually stunning story with lovable characters. 

Rating: 10/10