REVIEW: 'Soul' - Pixar's latest triumph
“Life is full of possibilities. You just need to know where to look. Don't miss out on the joys of life.”
A few days ago, I came across a Tweet comparing a frame from Toy Story (1995) and a frame from Soul (2020) and I was shocked by the insane difference in the quality of animation between the two films. Toy Story was revolutionary when it first came to screens: it was both the first entirely computer-animated feature film as well as the first feature from Pixar, a young upstart production company Pixar’s animation team was reinventing the game as they crafted Toy Story but they ran into several challenges. Have you ever wondered why Andy’s mom never shows her face in the film? It was because the team had no idea how to animate realistic human expressions. Andy himself was played by three unique character models.
Technology has grown exponentially in the twenty-five years between Toy Story and the present day. By our current standards, it feels so incredibly dated and it seems as if anyone with Blender could create the film with ease. But Pixar always remained three steps ahead. Between each film in Pixar’s massive catalogue of animated hits, it is hard to tell the differences, but when you have two decades of hindsight, you can see how far we have truly come. Perspective is key.
And that’s when we arrive at Soul, the twenty-seventh feature film from the studio, which once again proves Pixar’s supremacy in the field of animation. Directed by animation veteran Pete Docter, Soul is nothing if not a testament to how far Pixar has come since its humble beginnings and reaffirms its dedication to both redefining animation and telling deeply human stories. Soul is not only on par with Pixar’s best efforts but may just be one of their strongest films to date.
Soul is about Joe Garner, a struggling jazz musician and middle school band teacher, who, after having a shot at his big break, falls down a manhole. His soul becomes separated from his body and he awakes in the Great Beyond, where souls go when they die, before travelling to the Great Before, where souls exist before they are born. There he meets Jerry, the personification of the “coming together of all quantized fields of the universe” who appears in a form “feeble” human brains can understand. There, he teams up with 22, a particularly difficult soul, to return to his body and resume his life on Earth. Along the way, he wrestles with the questions of human existence, meaning, and what it means to live. And it all comes together in a profound and beautifully executed film.
Director Pete Docter’s work here is the obvious product of years of training combined with a healthy dosage of heart and creativity. Having worked on nearly every Pixar film since Toy Story and serving as a member of Pixar’s senior creative team since 2008, Docter’s work is highlighted by his previous three directorial efforts. His first was Monsters, Inc. in 2001, followed by the Best Picture-nominated Up in 2009, and then Inside Out, a film that Soul has been compared to by many other critics, in 2015. Soul feels very much like the product of a man who has spent years working in the field and drips of the influence of Pixar’s other work, while also being totally unique.
Soul is an example of a completely unconventional narrative structure. The film’s story comes to a close an hour into the movie as Joe’s narrative concludes with his safe return to New York City. While the dramatic narrative comes to an end, the emotional arc still has yet to find its own resolution. The last third of the film is a seeming backtrack over the rest of the story to find the emotional catharsis needed to fully drive the story home. It’s a brilliant choice that elevates the film’s emotional core by putting the heart of the characters first. In the end, Soul’s profound questions about life, meaning, and identity are given a stronger weight to them.
Soul’s premise and story go hand in hand. The conceit of the cosmology surrounding life and death in Soul’s world is the story. It is a perfect example of how a tight connection between the story, characters, concepts, and worldbuilding makes it all feel like natural extents of one another. The entire film is the concept.
Not enough can be said of the film’s gorgeous imagery both in its depiction of ordinary life in New York City as well as the world beyond. The best achievement of Soul’s animation is the rich and complex lighting that is without peer. Soul’s images have layers of depth and realism to them which is unseen in animation. The design of the various environments Joe and 22 travel through are beautifully crafted. The lands of the great before and the great beyond, the realms of infinity beyond the reach of human understanding, are filled with bizarre, eerily familiar, and yet entirely alien scenery. The sequence of Joe falling between the Great Beyond and the Great Before is reminiscent of many of the greatest scenes of interstellar travel in cinema while being entirely confident as its own thing.
Even the natural environments are designed with as much care. This version of New York City is unmistakably New York yet is given such a distinctive visual style. The imagery of the film is complemented perfectly with the score composed by Jon Batiste, Trent Reznor, and Atticus Ross.
Finally, I want to address the gorgeous soundscapes created for the film. The score was created by three composers each tasking with crafted the score for the film’s two primary locations. American jazz musician Jon Batiste composed the jazz score heard during the scenes set in the real world and the songs which Joe and the other jazz musicians perform. Batiste’s jazz work is lively and energetic giving the perfect sonic accompaniment to the film.
The score heard during the sections of the film set in the worlds beyond, defined with heavy bass and light synths, is composed by Nine Inch Nails members Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross. Hot off the heals of their work on Mank (2020), Reznor and Ross’ synthetic score is angelic and uplifting adding to the magic, mystery, and awe of the aetherial realms in which Soul takes the viewer through. I have enjoyed listening to the score after viewing the film because, even in isolation from the film, the music brings so much joy and energy and is the perfect capstone on the creative genius of Soul.
As a complete piece, Soul is a vibrant, imaginative, and poignant film destined to become a classic of animation. Not only is Soul a brilliant work on its own, but it rivals the best of Pixar’s other work. The film’s profound questions about meaning, purpose, and identity reverberate strongly throughout the film and carry on long after it concludes. I cannot recommend Soul enough. Imaginative, funny, and thoughtful, Soul is a film for everyone made with love, care, and an unearthly amount of creative talent.
I think Soul may be the first Pixar film to address the disastrous state of the New York Knicks. Finally, Pixar is tackling the real issues!
Score: 4.5
Soul is now streaming on Disney+.
I loved the show, too! An insightful essay.
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