Recently, the last few Pixar movies have been by the numbers and safe and more importantly, sequels, which is why Onward had my attention from the outset, as not only was it none of those things, but it was set in a world that was ripe for fun and wonder. The question remains, is Onward a movie that is worth adventuring to go and see, or should you roll again for something else.

Onward is, at its heart a movie about family, both the love of one’s parent and the friendly sibling rivalry of one’s brother. It tells the story of the Lightfoot family, with Ian and Barley being the sons that the movie centres around and starts off with Ian turning 16, while his day at school might not have gone the best, a present from his mother, might just change the night. Wilden, the boy’s father, passed away before Ian was born and while Barley has a few memories of him, Ian has nothing but an old tape, which he pretends to have conversations with. Ian wants nothing more than to meet his father, and his last present to the boys might make that possible, as their mother, Laurel, presents them with a wizard staff and a spell to bring someone back for 24 hours and while Barley is the one instant on giving it a go, nothing happens. But it is not until much later when Ian is alone, that he gives it ago and the spell begins to take effect.

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Of course, it goes wrong and Ian, along with Barley’s ill-timed assistance, manages to complete only have the spell, which results in only the lower portion of their father coming back. Barley is convinced they can complete the spell and then spend the rest of the 24 hours with their dad, but in order to locate the missing item required for the spell to work, they need assistance and that comes from the Manticore. This is where the quest begins, with the boys and their father, who is half the man he used to be, head out in search of the Manticore’s Lair, which has now been turned into a themed restaurant, complete with cuddly mascot. And now begin the puns and twists of what we know, the Manticore, or Corey, being a prime example, previously known for sending adventurers on dangerous, potentially lethal quests, is now a meek restaurant manager. As the boys venture further down the path of peril, which runs alongside the freeway, they encounter some pixies and rather than being cute and mischievous, they are angry and agitated, which leads to a high-speed chase down a freeway.

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As next challenge arrives, Ian feels more and more overwhelmed and while Barley is doing his best to support, as brothers are want to do, they clash over each idea. While Barley, is someone who believes in the world’s history of magic, there hasn’t been any proof of it in ages, which has him looking more like the guy that thinks Dungeons and Dragons is real, (which here, turns out to be true). Ian on the other hand, is quiet and keeps to himself, struggling to make friends at school, drive and basically grow up the way he think it needs to be, as he believes him not having a father is the cause of these things and sees his day with dad, to be a way to help him get things moving ahead in the right way. Even though they are brothers and invariably love each other, their personalities are opposites to the extreme and it causes most of their situations to spiral out of control, but Ian, when all seems lost, comes to a powerful realisation.

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There is a lot to like about the world that Pixar have created, from the pun filled names for business and locations, to creatures that fill the world. One aspect I liked is that there were not dozens of characters throw in, for the sake of being thrown in, while there are some ancillary folks, they serve a point and that’s it. The main cast can be broken down to the boys, their mother, the manticore and if you must, the mane man himself, Office Colt Bronco and each is brought to life with a lot of passion. Tom Holland and Chris Pratt might not be brothers in real life, but you wouldn’t know it, based on the chemistry that they have here, there is an easy going flow between the two that helps and hinders things, exactly when the story needs it, there is no forced heart to heart moments, each sounds sincere. The sub pairing of Mum and Cori is funny, though some of their interactions feel a little more drawn out than they need to be, but thankfully, they don’t slow the movie down too much.

If there is a problem, it is the same as one of the films strengths, that is making puns and jokes of the mystical creatures we known, some jokes, like the troll operating the toll bridge is funny, but the unicorns, being the feral pest that eats garbage, is not. The problem is, each time I saw a pun, or a play on the expected, my mind kept going back to Shrek and how they did it, and yes, they were more of the fairy tale, than magical, but it still holds true. The best example of a lack of creativity, is the pawn shop owner, who in the real world have been called many names, links to reptiles among them, and they went and applied that to the character there, being an Ogre, or a Giant would have worked as well, but it seems they found the most direct comparison and just left it alone. Given the penchant for Pixar to create wholly unique worlds, literally based on the idea of what goes on inside your head, this seems like a big waste. I can’t help but feel that these jokes were tested by corporate, as the early Pixar would have had more fun and creativity with them, but there is an upside of this though and it is the fact that if there ever was a Pixar movie that could be a tv series, Onward would be perfect for it.

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Of course, as a Pixar movie, there are certain expectations on the visuals and once again, they nail it, the conceptual designs that I had seen, prior to the movie showed a lot of attention to the characters, something that I found made it easy to identify from the briefest of glimpses. Even the movies secondary characters, have a unique look to them, and while there are only a handful of races, with some not even given major roles, still shine, thanks to their visual looks. The world itself is crafted with such meticulous attention to detail, that each time you see a new location, spotting all the little touches. The thing is the world has so many elements that are new, it is their ability to blend with those we know, that help make it believable and there are plenty of those around. There are a number of locations, from suburbia, to the more rundown part of town and the open fields that surround it, and each one is easily recognisable as that type of environment, which is good as the movies pace keeps changing them frequently.

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Onward is another solid release from Pixar, thanks in part to the emotional connection with the movie’s director, but more than that, it is something completely new from the studio. Those who decide to give it a go will find a very heart-warming tale about family and is complimented with some wonderful new characters. While the story hits a predictable end, and many of the jokes are just flips on the things we know, it is still a movie that you can enjoy, no matter what your age.