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Poll Pixar's Soul - Review and Discusssion Thread

Rate Soul

  • A+

    Votes: 2 13.3%

  • A

    Votes: 4 26.7%

  • A-

    Votes: 2 13.3%

  • B+

    Votes: 4 26.7%

  • B

    Votes: 2 13.3%

  • B-

    Votes: 0 0.0%

  • C+

    Votes: 0 0.0%

  • C

    Votes: 0 0.0%

  • C-

    Votes: 0 0.0%

  • D+

    Votes: 0 0.0%

  • D

    Votes: 1 6.7%

  • D-

    Votes: 0 0.0%

  • F

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • Total voters
    15
JD

JD

Fleet Admiral
Admiral
Soul is the latest movie Pixar and Disney, it was directed by Pete Doctor, co-directed by Kemp Powers, with a script by Pete Doctor, Kemp Powers, and Mike Jones.
The film follows Joe Gardner, a middle school music teacher, who also dreams of a career as a Jazz pianist. When Joe is in an accident, his soul accidently ends up in the Great Before, where soul's personalities are built before they are born, and is paired with 22 , a soul who has been in the Great Before for thousands of years without ever making it to Earth. After an accident the pair end up on Earth, only with 22 in Joe's body, and Joe in the body of a therapy cat from the hospital his body was in.
Cast:
Jaime Fox as Joe Gardner
Tina Fey as 22
Phylicia Rashad as Libba Gardner, Joe's Mother
Richard Ayoade, Alice Braga, Wes Studi, Fortune Feimster, and Zenobia Shroff as Jerry, Jerry, Jerry, Jerry, and Jerry, the counselors in The Great Before
Rachel House as Terry, the soul counter for The Great Beyond
Graham Norton as Moonbeam, a spiritual sign twirler
Questlove as Curly, a Jazz drummer and Joe's former student
Angela Bassett as Dorothea Williams, a well known Jazz sax player
Daveed Diggs as Paul, Joe's neighborhood nemesis

I really enjoyed this, it was a lot fun. The designs an animation for the Jerrys and Terry were pretty cool.
The whole cast did a great job, with Tiny Fey and Jamie Fox being especially good.
The stuff in the Great Before was pretty fun, but didn't take nearly as much of the movie as I was expecting. I thought the message about learning to love life was pretty nice.
 
I liked it. I wouldn’t show it to my boys at work as the dialogue was quite advanced, though.
 
I enjoyed it. Didn't think it was really a kids' movie as I doubt the storyline would engage them.

I think they missed an opportunity for Joe to discover his true talent wasn't playing jazz, but inspiring and mentoring others.
 
It looks great, the music is wonderful (and I'm not a huge jazz fan), but there wasn't any moment that just hit me square in the feels and made me cry, the way Up or Onward did--and from a Pixar film, I expect to be weeping like a child at least once.

Also the end didn't really have a great conclusion for me:
At various points throughout he was pursuing his dream and there were examples of how his teaching had made an impact on others, but after he gets his big break he doesn't feel as he thought he would and the end just comes up rather abruptly about living life to the fullest. I was expecting him to turn his back on performing and instead stick to teaching and the good he can do for others through that, that was where I was expecting the story to go, maybe cutting forward a number of years and having 22 in his class and realising who they are.

Can't fault it from a technical standpoint, it was funny at times and overall a nice film, but not my favourite of all of Pixars work.
 
Really enjoyed Soul. My only regret was that the movie didn’t have more jazz music, though what the was of it was very good.

Loved the rich array of diverse characters, the Dorothea Williams character in particular. She seemed to follow in a straight line from strong Black women in jazz/blues from Ma Rainey through Bessie Smith. Tina Fey’s presence was a bit of a head scratcher but it didn’t detract from my enjoyment of the movie.

The ending reminded me a lot of the ending to Mo’ Betta Blues, probably my favorite Spike Lee movie. The lead characters both learned similar lessons about obsession.
 
Whilst it wasn't my favourite Pixar film, I really enjoyed Soul. I thought it had a wonderful message, and seeing it Christmas Day was perfect, really.
 
theenglish said:
I'll be watching it this week. Haven't missed a Pixar film yet.
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I loved a lot of the early films, but they've become less reliable as they went on. They've got more hits than misses though, and I really liked Soul.

I've not seen Good Dinosaur, Cars 3 or Coco and I didnt finish Monsters Inc 2 and Incredibles 2, but have seen the first Cars, Bugs Life, Toy Story and Finding Nemo more than enough times to make up for it.

I don't think Soul will be one I rewatch, but I certainly don't dislike it.
 
Bry_Sinclair said:
It looks great, the music is wonderful (and I'm not a huge jazz fan), but there wasn't any moment that just hit me square in the feels and made me cry, the way Up or Onward did--and from a Pixar film, I expect to be weeping like a child at least once.

Also the end didn't really have a great conclusion for me:
At various points throughout he was pursuing his dream and there were examples of how his teaching had made an impact on others, but after he gets his big break he doesn't feel as he thought he would and the end just comes up rather abruptly about living life to the fullest. I was expecting him to turn his back on performing and instead stick to teaching and the good he can do for others through that, that was where I was expecting the story to go, maybe cutting forward a number of years and having 22 in his class and realising who they are.

Can't fault it from a technical standpoint, it was funny at times and overall a nice film, but not my favourite of all of Pixars work.
Click to expand...
We never meet Lisa either. Maybe they thought it better if people brought their own meaning to the ending by leaving it more open ended.
 
Relayer1 said:
I loved a lot of the early films, but they've become less reliable as they went on. They've got more hits than misses though, and I really liked Soul.

I've not seen Good Dinosaur, Cars 3 or Coco and I didnt finish Monsters Inc 2 and Incredibles 2, but have seen the first Cars, Bugs Life, Toy Story and Finding Nemo more than enough times to make up for it.

I don't think Soul will be one I rewatch, but I certainly don't dislike it.
Click to expand...

I lied! There are a number of the sequel films that I haven't seen--or that I have only watched moments of as my family watched them on Disney Plus. I liked Toy Story 2 and 3 but Monster Inc 2 was a snooze and I didn't finish Incredible 2. Cars 3 was pretty bland in my opinion although I did like Cars 2. Coco is my favorite Pixar film.

As for Soul, I enjoyed it a lot although I thought the initial afterlife stuff went on for too long and would have preferred to have seen more of them back on Earth. I loved the movie overall, and its take on It's a Wonderful Life. Also, a movie that shows the power of a teacher is about more than just teaching skills and knowledge. Teachers at this time certainly can use something that pays them a bit of a tribute.
 
The whole family enjoyed it last night (kids are now 15 and 19–not certain they would have been quite as enthusiastic a decade ago). Not in my top 3 Pixars but in the top 10. Got some extra points for going in a direction I didn’t expect (I only knew it was about a jazz piano player who taught school—was otherwise totally unspoiled, so I thought the title was about soul music).
 
Really loved the animation and the characters, especially the Jerrys and Terry!

Bit too deep for a kids movie though I did like the message of just enjoying life rather than having to have a purpose.
 
I think the message was that our purpose in life was not necessarily what we thought it was. It was a modern take on It's a Wonderful Life.
 
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