My Review of Soul (2020) · 12:09am Oct 30th, 2021
Rating Scale:
12/10—a complete masterpiece; flawless and outstanding
11/10—Excellent, near-perfect film
10/10—the standard rating; awesome film with a couple of flaws
9/10—a wonderful film with several flaws
8/10–a great film with numerous flaws but not enough to ruin it
7/10—a fun and entertaining movie; not great but still enjoyable
6/10—a slightly above average film; it is something I might watch again
5/10—mediocre movie; not awful but not great either
4/10—a below average film; it could have been much better
3/10—a bad film; poorly written and poorly executed
2/10—a very bad movie; the few good things in the movie overshadowed by the bad things
1/10—a terrible movie; a total waste of time
0/10—a worthless piece of abomination; should have never been made
Greetings to you all, ladies and gentlemen! This is Mr. J with another movie review for tonight! For this Disney Friday, I will be reviewing last year’s film from Pixar called Soul, per the request of ScorchingFlamesInc . At first, I wasn’t too interested to check out this movie ever since I first heard of it and read the synopsis thereof until my curiosity got the best of me. So just last week, I was able to watch the movie for the first time with an open mind. And let me tell you, this is probably one of the most heart-warming, inspirational, thoughtful, and well-made Pixar movies I’ve ever seen.
The story was definitely intriguing as it progressed throughout the movie. In this, we have Joe (voiced by Jamie Foxx) who has a deep passion for Jazz and wouldn’t shut up about it whenever he talks to people and has to look for a gig that will not only keep him financially secure but also something he could enjoy. Suddenly, he falls through a manhole and finds his soul somewhere in between earth and the afterlife. He encounters numerous other souls and finds himself in a difficult position. The supervising souls instruct him to mentor a soul that will earn their right back to life. Thus, Joe gains a learning experience throughout the whole whacky journey.
First off, the animation is very solid here. Pixar never disappoints when it comes to animating characters and their universes. Did I ever mention that before?
The characters themselves were pretty well-written too, but sadly there really aren’t many of them that I can genuinely like or relate to. The only ones who were quite enjoyable to watch were Joey and 22. Jamie Foxx and Tina Fey were both terrific in the roles they well played.
When it comes to the humor though, it didn’t really impress me that much. Some of the dialogue felt flatly delivered and weren’t that memorable in my opinion. Nonetheless, I still enjoyed what this movie was bringing to the table.
What it did manage to come across was the most important lessons that we all (especially young people) can learn in our daily lives: never give up what you love most, and whatever it is you decide you wanna be, that is ultimately up to you. The same applies to learning new things that can pique our interests and improve our skills in life.
If there is one major nick-pick I have with this film, it would be the ending. Joey was fully ready to give up his soul and embrace his end right after giving 22 his earth badge so that she could have a chance for a new life..... UNTIL someone else then presented him another opportunity to get back to earth as human. To me, it felt like his would-be sacrifice was completely meaningless and lessened the impact of his selflessness. It would have been a lot better if he didn’t come back in my opinion. Though some would argue that getting his life back would result in him appreciating life much more than how he previously did. That does make sense in a way, but in my opinion, that somehow makes me question the purpose of having those earth badges there to begin with. They could have executed the ending much better, but it is what it is.
Overall, this film was pretty good to watch despite some issues I have with it. I give it an 8/10.
Peace.
I didn't like the premise.
I watched this for New Year and I liked it. It was beautiful but it´s not one of my favourites.
I resonate with this film a lot because I've been wanting to pursue my passion of calligraphy and lettering, but I couldn't think of ways to make a living off of it.
The ending made me learn to appreciate life while the pandemic still goes on.
Fun fact: This is the first Pixar film to not have John Ratzenberger in the voice cast.