‘Soul’ Review: Poor Handling of Themes Doesn’t Bury Strong Pixar Effort
Pixar is one of the most consistent creative teams in the world when it comes to churning out one very solid movie after another. While I loved many of their movies as a kid, I’ve become somewhat jaded with their output as time has gone on, with many of their films after 2009’s Up relying on weepy sentimentality as a crutch. Soul is, in some ways, a continuation of this trend as well as a return to form. It doesn’t overdo things trying to turn on the water works, and in doing so manages to be genuinely emotionally resonant.
Soul tells the story of music teacher Joe Gardner (Jamie Foxx) who dreams of one day becoming a successful musician. When he finally gets his big break, he dies, and must try to find a way back to his body to capitalize on his dream. The characters in the human world are rendered in a suitably exaggerated cartoonish style, however much of the objects in the world are rendered in hyperrealistic detail. This is certainly an impressive display of Pixar’s animation technology, but it is rather disturbing watching cartoon people with exaggerated features play photorealistic musical instruments and interact with photorealistic objects. The “soul world” consisting of both before and after-life areas, is much less lifelike, but also more visually inventive and interesting. Most of the characters, including many historical figures, are reduced to simple sprites that effectively capture the essence of how they look. Controlling the “soul world” are several 2-dimensional entities named Jerry and Terry, whose creative animations and silly office politics make for easily the most entertaining aspect of the film.
The other principal character is 22 (Tina Fey), a sprite who has continually failed to develop enough in her “before life” to where she is able to be born on earth. Joe becomes paired with her and enlists her help in returning to his own body. Her introduction to earth ends up providing Joe with the basis for his entire character arc as he re-examines life with a fresh look through her eyes. Despite her importance to the plot, I found 22 to be pretty annoying for most of the film and many of the gags involving her and various historical figures fell flat.
One of Soul’s biggest selling points is its thematic concerns. What defines one’s purpose in life? What does it mean to live a good life? Are we pre-determined to be a certain type of person and live a certain way? Or do we have more agency in terms of how our lives turn out? Soul asks these questions and more and weaves them into its world-building. Unfortunately, the film’s messaging on these is pretty muddled and incoherent, and has little definitive to say beyond “appreciate the little things”. Much of the events of the movie as well as the way the “soul world” works tend to confuse whatever it is the movie is trying to say, so it’s best not to think too hard about them and focus instead on the emotional arc of the characters.
Soul isn’t perfect, but it’s one of the best works Pixar has put out in some time. Some of the animations may be creepy and some of the themes may be handled poorly, but the emotional arcs of the characters work very well and feel poignant and relatable. Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross turn in another great score here as well. If that isn’t enough, watch it for Terry and Jerry, who are some of the best side-characters in Pixar’s recent history.
