Soul (Disney+) Movie Review & Comments

I thought the concept of this would be another Pixar film to stir my emotions, but it didn't hit the spot for me.
 
Thanks Cas, we watched it and at first we’re dubious but as the film went on, we were bowled over by its creativity/imagination and then it got emotional at the end, good film and as always, really good review/write up.
 
We got around to watching this today with the kids, and although I found it sweet and funny in a few places, overall I found it a bit boring.
 
Coco is a very fun en well done movie which i can highly recommend to you !

Watched it and preferred it to Soul, funny that they both had a similar theme with the afterlife. Really need to watch all the Pixars movies I have missed while I have a disney+ sub.
 
Watched it and preferred it to Soul, funny that they both had a similar theme with the afterlife. Really need to watch all the Pixars movies I have missed while I have a disney+ sub.

i saw coco many times now and it always makes me happy with the music and the story....it’s more fun than Soul but that doesn’t make Soul boring just more serious fare that you need to focus on.
Pixar makes really good movies even though some might be considered less Pixar worthy.
Check them out you’ll have fun 😃
 
For me, this is a wonderful film. But this foray into more complex themes makes it hard for children below a certain age to enjoy because of the complex ideas/themes going on throughout the movie. My daughter lost interest and I found myself having to keep describing what is going on for her to stay engaged. If the main character was a teenager, maybe it would hit home easier? Visually, it was incredible - with splendid art direction and use of different but interesting animation styles. I feel Pixar will keep pushing these ideas whilst releasing more traditional ’cartoon animation’ for younger audiences alongside these complex stories. Pixar are pushing boundaries and I like it. I’m not sure everyone will like this direction though...

No, no, no - a thousand times NO. We have to stop dumbing down everything, not doing it more. That's what the Minions and Croods are for. Children that are too young to understand it shouldn't be watching it, period. That doesn't mean you change the product, you wait until they're ready.

FWIW, I found it a very mediocre film as far as Pixar is concerned. Technically it's unbelievable but I couldn't care less about the main character or what happened to him.
 
You can normally judge how good a Pixar film is by how long it takes me to pull myself together when it has finished. It took me a about an hour before I could communicate again after Toy Story 3 and Coco. This was at the other end of the blubbing spectrum. Still a lovely film though but not quite as engaging as some of Pixars best.
 
We really enjoyed it, as per the review we went in thinking "straight to streaming" this won't be good but didn't know it was very much a proper Pixar film that should have been a cinema release. I'll be very interested to see what this does for Disney+ sub numbers and if it starts to disrupt the balance to more movies going straight to the service.

Those interested the first episode of the inside Pixar series is interviews with one of the writers of this film and it's quite interesting way at only 15 minutes long.

What amazes me with a lot of Disney and Pixar movies is how they treat the source cultures. Coco felt like they had really researched the day of the dead and done a great job of honouring the traditions, similarly in the Disney side Moana did a fantastic job representing Pacific island culture even getting translated in to Te Reo Maori and shown in that language in new Zealand to honour it. That episode with the writer kind of shows that off about one particular scene in soul he felt was essential in black culture that he pushed hard to be allowed to write it and I'd argue it's one of the most important scenes in the film.
 
Thanks for the review Cas!
We enjoyed it (as a pair of fifty something kids) but couldn't really see it as a kids movie, although we may be doing them a disservice...
 
Just watched Soul this evening. As someone who's been through a lot of experiences in and around death, and dealt with depression, I found it truly uplifting. I can't help but feel those that find it boring, kind of miss the point.

And as I've just read a few extra comments that weren't there before I watched this, these are the kind of films which should be watched with kids and definitely much better than the dumbed down ones.

My 6 year old girl was asking questions about what was happening and I thought it was a perfect way to visualise elements of passing on etc.

When her Nanna died a few years ago we explained it using the age old 'stars in the sky' and she's always with you. So to see the souls moving towards that in the film was fitting.
 
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Finally got round to watching this last night and it's immediately up there as one of my favourite Pixar films. Struck the right balance between some pretty complex themes and being fun to watch. The visual style though was just incredible, really punchy and well balanced Dolby Vision implementation. Sound design too was fantastic.
 
Looked stunning on my OLED but just lacked the humour of other films, I actually nodded off a few times, I watched with the wife and she just shrugged her shoulders at the end. Like I said looks and sound fantastic but a bit of a heavy subject and I don’t think it would appeal to kids and not enough humour for adults which is what Pixar usually do.
 
Really enjoyed, and don't think you lose out watching on Disney+ compared to the cinema.
 
From what I am hearing this movie definitely has something.

It started off very poorly in China but if you know the Chinese market then you'll know that movies led by black stars will struggle there. But strong word of mouth has apparently brought more people out to see it.
 
Thanks for the review Cas. Really like pretty well everything Pixar have ever produced. Trying to find a perfect time to cough up for a Month, watch everything we want, & bail!
You'll get £10 cashback for Disney+ subscription if you go through Quidco.

 
This was utterly superb. Incredibly inventive, gorgeous to look at, incredible design. The music is also excellent, the original jazz compositions as well as Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross' score.
As seems to be standard for Pixar films now I had very moist eyes (and face) by the end.
Definitely watch again.
 
Whilst I enjoyed it, at the end it didn’t have the emotional impact most Pixar movies do. A solid 6.5 for me ... but had the film score been bad that’d be a 5 tops. I think they erred a little by not having us invest in the lead character early enough. His backstory was done in a one minute montage way too late.

Also, on my Apple TV box I only got PCM 5.1. Not Atmos. Was this review from a disc or streamed? If streamed, how did you get Atmos Cas? I’d love to hear the film in Atmos just for the music.
 
A nice film with a great soundtrack, Atmos was sadly missed on this one though.
 
Whilst I enjoyed it, at the end it didn’t have the emotional impact most Pixar movies do. A solid 6.5 for me ... but had the film score been bad that’d be a 5 tops. I think they erred a little by not having us invest in the lead character early enough. His backstory was done in a one minute montage way too late.

Also, on my Apple TV box I only got PCM 5.1. Not Atmos. Was this review from a disc or streamed? If streamed, how did you get Atmos Cas? I’d love to hear the film in Atmos just for the music.

No Atmos on my 2019 Nvidia Shield either.
 
Whilst I enjoyed it, at the end it didn’t have the emotional impact most Pixar movies do. A solid 6.5 for me ... but had the film score been bad that’d be a 5 tops. I think they erred a little by not having us invest in the lead character early enough. His backstory was done in a one minute montage way too late.

Also, on my Apple TV box I only got PCM 5.1. Not Atmos. Was this review from a disc or streamed? If streamed, how did you get Atmos Cas? I’d love to hear the film in Atmos just for the music.
It's available on Atmos on my Sony KD75XH9005 via Disney+ app.
 
Whilst I enjoyed it, at the end it didn’t have the emotional impact most Pixar movies do. A solid 6.5 for me ... but had the film score been bad that’d be a 5 tops. I think they erred a little by not having us invest in the lead character early enough. His backstory was done in a one minute montage way too late.

Also, on my Apple TV box I only got PCM 5.1. Not Atmos. Was this review from a disc or streamed? If streamed, how did you get Atmos Cas? I’d love to hear the film in Atmos just for the music.

Here in the U.S. it defaults to Atmos on my ATV 4k box. I have my ATV connected directly to my soundbar, not through the TV because I don't have eARC.

Have we just become so familiar with the Pixar formula that it doesn't affect us anymore? I would give it a 7/10. Without giving anything away, there was never a doubt in my mind exactly how it was going to turn out.
 
I have been listening to more jazz music over the last few years so I'll give it watch 🎺
 
The animation and graphics were amazing as per usual from pixel but I thought the movie was dull, my kids lost interest 30 minutes in! It had potential but poorly executed especially in terms of screenplay. I would give it 6/10
 
Mixed feelings with this one. Animation was amazing as you would expect from a Pixar. The "real world" detail was incredible and I would have liked to explore more of that; and the style of the "great before" was also really interesting - where the comparisons with the style of Inside Out can be made.
However for me, I didn't totally get the story ... what was the message? I don't think it's too deep, or too metaphysical; perhaps another viewing required - which I'll do since it's on streaming, I wouldn't have gone again to the cinema for a second viewing - not a instant hit like other Pixar's.
 

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