PLOT:
Joe is a middle-school band teacher whose life hasn’t quite gone the way he expected. His true passion is jazz — and he’s good. But when he travels to another realm to help someone find their passion, he soon discovers what it means to have soul.
REVIEW:
What did I like?
Jazz, man. Jazz has become a niche genre. That is to say there are only certain circles that dig it, a far cry from the 40-early 60s when it the popular music of the day. These days unless it is used as a commercial jingle, theme song, or some other quick snippet, the interest just isn’t there from the younger generations (excluding those that are in jazz bands…and even they are sketchy with it sometimes). This film bringing us a jazz musician as the main character was great, but using actual jazz in the soundtrack was even better as it introduces this great music to the younger viewers who will watch this. Who knows? Maybe this will inspire the next generation of jazz greats!
Neutral. When it was revealed that a major plot device was the afterlife, this film became very controversial. Pixar knew what they were doing, though. As everyone knows, people are so easily offended these days and using this or that version of the afterlife would have surely ruffled another group’s feathers and ignited a firestorm from the Twitter Nazi’s who seem to rule the world. Other than a comedic moment about the use of the word “hell”, the afterlife presented here is pretty bland, and this is done on purpose, with astounding effect. Throw in the ethereal music that soothes the viewers ears while watching these scenes and it all comes together to make a neutral scene but one that offends no one…and yet, we all know someone is sure to take umbrage with something about all this, right?
Relate. In a former life, I was Joe. No, I’m not a reincarnation of a fictional, animated character, but rather I was a middle school band teacher with aspirations of playing jazz. So, for me, this film is 100% relatable. I know the feeling of having the maternal unit constantly bringing up the need for a job with benefits and the like. I felt the pain of the constant rejection of not being good enough for this gig or that one. I also know the joy of seeing at least one of your students get it. Coincidentally, Connie, the trombone player seen in the trailers, resembles a former student of mine. I just talked to her and sent a screenshot from the film saying, “remember these days”. Now, just because I can relate to this cat, doesn’t mean everyone can, but Pixar did everything they could to make Joe a relatable character, and I think they succeeded.
What didn’t I like?
It continues. When the first trailer was released for this film, there was much joy from the African-American community about this being the first Pixar film with black lead. Within 24 hours, articles were coming out left and right about how everytime there is a black led animated film, with the exception of Spider-Man: Into the Spider-verse, they are turned into some other creature, be it a frog, pigeon, blue blob of a soul, or something else. Like most people, I had never noticed this trope, but it is true with this picture, as Joe falls down a manhole and dies by the 11 minute mark. It isn’t just African-American characters, either. Miguel, from Coco, is a skeleton like character for almost the entire film. Same goes for Manolo in The Book of Life. Now, I’m not going to harp on this too much, but it something that needs to brought to light. Whether it is on purpose or not, is debatable, much like the fact that every redhead character seems to be race swapped with someone of African-American decent. However, Joe doesn’t spend the majority of the film as a soul. We do get him back on Earth. Progress comes in small doses and this epidemic, if you will, has now been brought to light.
For the kids? I question who this is for. Not necessarily in bad way, but the main character is a middle aged man. There are a few comedic scenes, but nothing that is laugh out loud funny. Other than the Jerrys in the Great Before, there really isn’t anything bright and colorful to capture a small child’s imagination. Compare that to something like Toy Story, Monster’s, Inc, Cars, etc. Yes, each film is different and perhaps they wanted to go for a slightly older audience with this one, but I still feel that this was marketed as more of a kids movie, only to hit the audience with all the existential talk.
Science of jazz. It turns out that Joe was originally meant to be a white scientist, rather than an African-American jazz teacher. The change was made because scientists aren’t relatable. As I stated earlier, I love that the decision was made to go the jazz route, but what about the scientist? Maybe in another film we can get that. Scientists aren’t unrelatable. See The Absent-Minded Professor, The Nutty Professor, Evolution, Honey, I Shrunk the Kids, Ghostbusters, Meet the Robinsons, etc. Maybe, since it is stated Joe is…or was…a part time band teacher, he could have been a science teacher the other half, and then a struggling jazz musician at night? Just a thought.
Final verdict:
So, what did I think of Soul? Critics, audiences, and everyone is gushing about this like crazy. I really liked it, but I didn’t feel like it was the greatest thing since sliced bread. The music is great, the story is great. The detail and care that went into the design of the characters and capturing the different skin tones is also apparent. I think I just went into this expecting something a tad lighter. Nothing against the film, that was just me. I do have to wonder who this rappin Ced person is (you’ll see and hear in the film). The ending of this film is one of the perfect Pixar endings, though I was reading about other endings that were bandied about, but I feel they chose the right one. All things said, this a great film to watch with the family. If you’re a teacher, musician, or both, you’ll really dig the scenes where Joe takes on the mentor role, both on and off Earth. I very highly recommend this!
4 1/2 out of 5 stars
Mystery Man's Musings 