It is infrequent for me to call a movie perfect. Even the greatest movies of all time have flaws that most of us don't notice when audiences can be enticed into the more fantastic storytelling elements mixed with the memorable characters. Even something being perfect to someone all boils down to a matter of opinion and not just what the mass majority has to say. Most movies I consider perfect come from the animation studio Pixar. It's become easy to get into the habit of thinking everything from that studio will be 100% flawless every single time, thanks to the studio's strong reputation in the late ’90s and through the 2000s. When Pixar makes something that is not “perfect,” people often pass it up as mediocre or even plain awful, even though they are still debatably just good by usual moviegoing standards. (though there are exceptions.) Once in a while, everyone can come together to praise a Pixar movie for going beyond the call of duty and being just as great as the work they were best known for. The Pete Doctor and Kemp Powers directed film “Soul” is one of those movies that can stand tall with Pixar’s finest and may be one of their most ambitious projects ever.
Joe Gardner (Jamie Foxx) works part-time as a Middle school band teacher but dreams of becoming a full-time jazz musician. One day, he gets a shot to play with Dorothea Willams (Angela Bassett) at the Half Note, much to his mother's dismay. After showing Dorothea what he can do, Joe lands a gig tonight at 7 pm. Joe is so excited to get his big break that he accidentally falls down a maintenance hole on his way out. After some mishaps, Joe finds himself in the Great Before in the form of a Soul, where souls get their personalities before going to Earth. While there, Joe meets with strange beings who confuse him for a mentor. Joe then meets an unborn soul named 22 (Tina Fey), who refuses to go to Earth. Knowing Joe will need an earth pass from a soul to return to his body, Joe and 22 form an unlikely alliance to complete the mission. However, many obstacles stand in their way, and a being named Terry (Rachel House) becomes suspicious of Joe messing with the rules of death and tries to send him back to the Great Beyond.
The Story is ambitious in its thought-provoking themes and boldly goes where few Pixar films have before. As expected, the worldbuilding is impressive, and the story always knows how much creativity the narrative needs to throw at you and how much to hold back. Even when the film comes up with exciting and creative ideas, it never loses track of the story's central message, which you don’t usually hear in many movies, live-action or animated. The message tells you that your purpose, whether obtaining a profession or finding success, is not the true meaning of life. That is to say, it is good to have a passion and a life in whatever profession you choose. The problem is that sometimes, we as humans dedicate our whole lives to achieving what we believe is success, and we forget to enjoy the more minor things in our lives, no matter how mundane they are. We weren't put on this planet just to do one singular thing; we were put on this planet to enjoy the many things life offers us. In many ways, this message is groundbreaking and accurate to people like me who want to succeed in an enormous profession that I think would find me successful when I’m missing out on the smaller joys that bring me happiness and still do. Messages aside, the places the storytelling goes are outstanding, and each obstacle our characters encounter furthers the plot and builds up the bigger picture. The pacing is excellent, and the emotional beats hit hard just like in any great Pixar story. Even though some people had a problem with how the story ends, for me, the story is as close to Pixar perfect as you can get. It shows that the studio knows what they are doing to make a movie that will speak more to adults than kids but will no doubt still be able to enchant anyone at any age.
The Characters are fun and complex, especially regarding our two main leads. Joe Gardner, played by Jamie Foxx, is great as a character striving for something he thinks is important to him. He is unique, knowing he is the first black lead in a Pixar movie. I was at first worried when I heard that Jamie Foxx was playing a Pixar character, knowing some voice roles he’s had in other animated family films. Still, thankfully, Pixar brought out the best in Foxx’s performance and made the best of his acting abilities to bring his character into the viewers' hearts. Tina Fey plays 22, and she also brings a great deal of funny lines and deep sentiment to make her character feel rounded and understandable. 22 and Joe’s constant back-to-back dialogue is a joy to listen to; both work so well off each other. The other cast members deserve much-needed credit, and each makes the best of the characters they are given. Moonwind, played by Graham Norton, is a spiritual sign twirler who gets many laughs. Rachel House voices Terry, an obsessive soul counter who also gets many laughs and poses a decent threat to stand in the way of Joe’s mission. All five Jerry's are voiced by Alice Braga, Richard Ayoade, Wes Studi, Fortune Feimster, and Zenobia Shroff, respectively, and they each bring such a delightful tone to each of their spiritual characters. There are, of course, many other characters with highlights, including Phylicia Rashad as Joe’s Mom, Libba, and Angela Bassett as Dorothea Williams. Still, every character makes the best of their performance, and Pixar once again delivered with great casting to bring voices to their well-written characters.
The Animation gets rewards in my book for being stunning and mesmerizing. In the spirit of Inside Out, the movie focuses on two different locations: New York City's streets and the Great Before's spiritual land. New York City is a location that animated films have used previously, but Pixar nailed their vision of what they wanted New York to look like. Pixar animators spent days in New York City to get inspiration and describe their version as distorted and crooked, as they also tried to stray away from photorealism. Places like the Half Note jazz club and the barber shop feel authentic and are just bursting with personality. The character designs in the “real world” are also outstanding as they are caricatured in all the right ways without looking too uncanny or cartoony. Also, when Joe plays the piano, it feels like the animators did their homework and painstakingly ensured the fingers landed on the right keys to create the right tune naturally. The Great Before is where the animation shines as it feels unbound by the rules of reality and can take form in such unique ways. The actual Great Before setting is bursting with blue colors with hints of purple, and the outskirts of the strange land become darker and mysterious, especially when it comes to the place where Moonwind often rides his ship. The souls take inspiration from Inside Out’s emotion designs as the regular unborn souls are cute with little difference about each of them (except for 22’s character), while the mentors are shaped to look like their bodies from the real world. What impressed me the most were the character designs for Terry and all the Jerry's. Their designs are nothing more than 2D shapes and lines. They can move and stretch into different imaginative shapes and symbols. Sometimes, 2D lines can be found in other areas around the Great Before, especially in the Hall of Everything. Adding more to the stylized look the animators go for in depicting a strange new world. Pixar has outdone itself once again and delivered breathtaking visuals that further evolve the 3D animation medium into doing things that would never have been possible when they first started making movies.
The Music was mainly composed by Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross, while the Jazz compositions were composed by Jon Batiste. For The Great Before, Reznor and Ross delivered a very techno and spiritual score to enhance the otherworldly feel of the location. It's very mellow, leaving room for the music to step up the tempo when needed. Conversely, Batiste handles the jazz music for the New York setting. The jazz is so good and lively, and it always makes me smile to hear music from talented musicians who bring such a unique flair to such a unique movie. The music truly rocks, and using two separate talents to put together the music for this movie was quite an experiment that paid off big time.
Thanks to its empowering and groundbreaking message, “Soul” has become one of my favorite movies of all time, matched by Pixar’s incredible storytelling with memorable characters, outstanding animation, and music that will never leave your mind after watching. This movie came to me when I needed it most. Even when its release date was pushed around because of the COVID-19 pandemic before finally appearing on Disney+ on Christmas in 2020, the wait was worth it to see a movie made out of love and passion from an animation studio I’ve adored since childhood. It is the kind of movie that will remind you why Pixar was even a legendary studio in the first place. While there will still be plenty of unnecessary sequels and stuff like that, as per any studio, it is excellent to know that movies like this remind us to live fully and appreciate the little things in our lives.
(Final Grade: A+)