Onward

Stars: Voices: Tom Holland, Chris Pratt, Octavia Spencer, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Kyle Bornheimer, Tracey Ullman, Wilmer Valderrama, John Ratzenberger , Mel Rodriguez

Director: Dam Scanlon

This is a middle-range Pixar animation feature, which still means that it's head and shoulders above most of the competition in what is these days a crowded animation market. A little scary for tinies, perhaps, but full of invention and imagination.

Holland and Pratt voice elven brothers Ian and Barley Lightfoot, who have blue faces and huge pointy ears that would put Mr Spock to shame. They're on a quest to discover enough magic in their world to restore their long-dead father to life just for a single day.

In hot pursuit, as they encounter unforeseen obstacles and perilous adventures, is their elven mother Laurel (Louis-Dreyfus), who jumps aboard the winged lion-serpent known as The Manticore (Spencer), aiming to catch up with the hapless pair before they go the same way as their father.

Fragmented in structure, the film's visual images are admittedly not among Pixar's finest, but excellent voice work by Pratt and Holland helps sweep you along with the characters on their journey. Lots of magic, too, and amusing twists towards the end as the brothers wrestle seemingly in vain with the spell that will bring their father back.

David Quinlan

USA 2020. UK Distributor: Disney. Technicolor.
98 minutes. Widescreen. UK certificate: PG.

Guidance ratings (out of 3): Sex/nudity 0, Violence/Horror 0, Drugs 0, Swearing 0.

Review date: 09 Jun 2020

DVD review