Soul is an American animated fantasy comedy-drama film written and directed by Pete Docter and Kemp Powers. The film is produced by Pixar Animation Studios and released by Walt Disney Pictures. In India, the film was released to stream on Disney+Hotstar on December 25, 2020. Soul is the first Pixar film to feature an African-American protagonist.
The film follows Joey Gardner (voiced by Jamie Foxx), a middle school music teacher, who feels stuck in life and unfulfilled at his job. Not so long into a film, while on the way to his home, he falls down a manhole. Then, Joe finds himself as a soul heading into the “Great Beyond” (where the journey of soul ends). Unwilling to die without doing something significant in life, he tries to escape but ends up in the “Great Before” (where the journey of unborn souls begins for life on Earth). Now, Joey must find his way back to Earth with the help of an infant soul (Tina Fey) learning about herself.
2020 has been the worst year for everyone, and even for the entertainment industry, not many films were released this year, many films got postponed, but this film is an exception to all of it. This film is like the ray of hope at the end of the dark tunnel. This film has surely come out as a surprise. And yes, for Pixar, this film is like one more diamond that got added to its crown of incredible filmography. The animation is flawless. It’s been 25 years that Pixar had released its first film Toy Story (1995), and over the years, the advancements in animation can be seen in its recent films. The film has a sublime musical score along with some of the best jazz compositions.
The story of the film is very fresh and compelling. In short, it has a heart and a soul. Most of Pixar’s films have the power to deliver outstanding all-age group entertainment, this one is also on the same line. But, I think this film is more appealing to adults, because of its core message. The first half of the film is a little complex that we need to focus on understanding this world it is trying to create. And, once that is done, the rest of the film will be a piece of cake. At the core, the film has a very important message about the meaning of life and finding purpose, and the way it delivers it is creative. Sometimes, we just get so busy in our lives, all the life we run behind dreams, we always try to do something significant, try to achieve something, something that will define us, something that will make us feel content. And, in that process, we forget the little joys of life, we lose ourselves, and get lost in finding the meaning of all of it. When asked to Joey about how he is going to spend his life, then his answer sum it all up – “I’m not sure. But I do know… I’m going to live every minute of it.”.
This film also made me remind one of my favorite dialogues from the film Dead Poets Society (1989) – “Medicine, law, business, engineering, these are noble pursuits and necessary to sustain life. But poetry, beauty, romance, love, these are what we stay alive for.”
Verdict : It is a nice and feel-good film. The best film of the worst year.
Rating : 4.2/5
Check the trailer here : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gs–6c7Hn_A
Movie Pub - Movie Reviews 