Disney+ has given us many things this past year to be thankful for. The Mandalorian for sure. But on Christmas this year Disney+ and Pixar gave us their newest movie, Soul. An enjoyable movie that stars Jamie Foxx, Tina Fey, Questlove, Phylicia Rashad and Angela Bassett, and music by Jon Batiste, Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross. A wonderfully animated movie with lots of heart.
We meet Joe (Jamie Foxx), a jazz musician teacher from Queens, New York, who’s never really made it. He tries out as a pianist for legendary singer/band-leader Dorothea Williams (Angela Bassett) and impresses her, he’s so excited he doesn’t even see the manhole he plunges into. As it tuns out though, he’s not dead, not yet anyway. He escapes the cross over into The Great Beyond and finds himself in The Great Before, a celestial nirvana where unborn souls learn and get their personalities before moving on to their life on earth. There, these souls are assigned mentors to give them guidance before they leap to life. Joe finds himself stuck with soul 22 (Tina Fey), who just wants to stay in The Great Before. In a Christmas Carol-tinged sequence where she accompanies Joe to survey his former existence, he concludes that his life was meaningless. And then Joe finds a way back to his life with 22 just in time for his existentialism to kick in and make him rethink all he’s ever known.
It’s Pixar first mid-life crisis movie. The movie mainly focuses on the idea of “don’t get so hung up on ambition that you forget to stop and smell the flowers”. Which is a good motto, even if that message gets lost within the film in several parts. Overall, the message stands. And we get to see the self-realization of a man who loves something so much that maybe it isn’t his passion after all. It happens to many people over a lifetime. It’s what we do with that realization that makes and defines us.
One of the most stunning Pixar films, it shows a beautiful version of New York, the one that’s written about in books. The city comes to life as we watch Joe interact with it as he goes about his day. We get to see a wonderfully positive thriving black community in the film, a first for a Pixar film. The characters in the movie act real and breathe life into a movie that was already overflowing with beauty and life. One of the best scenes in the movie is when Joe goes to get his hair cut. The scene is written beautifully by people who understand and have lived in the community. It’s fun, full of good humor and beauty. It’s the standout scene for sure.
The Jazz music is used amazingly in the movie. Just like jazz, the movie matches its strange and chaotic nature when it needs to be, and smoothy relaxing in scenes that need you to be focused and take it all in. Even in The Great Before scenes the music is wonderful. Not as jazzy, but just as interesting. Each scene makes use of the music and make it fit seamless into the narrative.
The scenes that I really enjoyed are when Joe and 22 have to visit where lost souls go. It’s a blank void of black and grays where everything has this glitter effect. It’s very subtle. It’s juxtaposed with our hippie guru character, Moonwind (Graham Norton), who is full of color of blue hues and fun. They need his help to figure out to get Joe back in his body on Earth. Joe must “get in the zone” and it’s fun idea of how when people are in the zone, they can lose themselves so much they transcend. It’s a fun little scene and has some great animation and funny lines.
Everyone at some point in their adult life will wonder if what they love is really what they enjoy or are going through the motions because of some idea they’ve had since childhood. Soul tries its best to answer those big questions. All be it, maybe not the best theme for a “kids” movie, but it does make you take pause and wonder what makes your soul, your soul?
Overall Soul is very enjoyable. Great music and wonderful animation. Wasn’t Pixar’s best, but not their worst by far. Sometimes it’s nice just to have a small simple movie about a man’s life where the stakes are normal and relatable.