The adventure of the movie kicks off when Ian
opens a gift left for him by his father (voiced by
Bryan Cranston): a staff and spell that will bring
Ian’s dad back for a day. Ian only half finishes the
trick: His father returns as just a pair of slacks
and dress shoes. In a race to beat the next day’s
sunset, the kids tow their half-formed father
on an odyssey in search of a crystal for another
chance at the spell.
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A pair of elves with a half-resurrected dead dad
is, unquestionably, esoteric territory for even
Pixar. When Ian gives him a pillow torso, shirt
and shades, the effect is a little like “Weekend
at Bernie’s.” And yet, “Onward” still works. As
they hunt from place to place, the elves’ quest
reawakens long dormant pools of magic.
Pressured by insurance companies and Yelp
reviews, a manticore (Octavia Spencer) begins
to question turning her lair into a TGI Fridays-
like restaurant.
In a series of such encounters, Ian gradually
grows more courageous; the movie isn’t as
unconventional as it seems. But “Onward”
pivots, movingly. It turns out to be more about
brotherly love than anything else. As a Pixar
entry, it may be the first to explicitly grapple
with not the trials of childhood, but the fraught
onset of adulthood. Either way, by the time
“Onward” has wrapped its journey, it will
probably be the only movie with a manticore to
make you cry.
“Onward,” a Walt Disney Co. release, is rated PG
by the Motion Picture Association of America for
action/peril and some mild thematic elements.
Running time: 103 minutes. Three stars out of four.