ONWARD Review

It's difficult to say what one would do if they were granted the chance to see a lost loved one again, but only for a limited amount of time. It would arguably be even more difficult if that lost loved one was a parent and not just a parent, but a parent you'd never met before; someone who has always been a creation of your own mind via the memories of others. Of course, while some might argue the possibility of such a meeting, the actual chances of this happening are slim to none and writer/director Dan Scanlon (Monsters University) obviously knows this and that is, I suspect, one of the reasons he penned Onward in the first place. It's not necessarily wish fulfillment per se, but it is a fantasy of sorts in that Scanlon has no doubt imagined many times throughout his life who his father might have been or what it might have been like to share in a conversation with his old man. I'm probably jumping ahead there, but if you don't know already, Onward is inspired by the fact Scanlon and his older brother lost their father when Scanlon was one and his brother, Bill, was three. In Onward, Scanlon has taken the idea of this fantasy about meeting his father and literally placed it into a world of fantasy where we meet elves Ian (voice of Tom Holland) and Barley (voice of Chris Pratt) who, on Ian's 16th birthday, are afforded the opportunity to spend the day with their father. Scanlon constructs a fantasy world that has long passed its expiration date on the "magic" and "fun" that one would inherently believe comes along in a world filled with fantastical things as pixies no longer fly, centaurs no longer run, and the once mighty Manticore (voice of Octavia Spencer) has been reduced to parodying herself in what is essentially a mythical-themed Applebee's. It is in this fantasy-less fantasy land that there seemingly resides some kind of metaphor about failing to see the magic all around you due to focusing on what's been lost, but Scanlon and co-writers Jason Headley and Keith Bunin don't so much hammer home the symbolic nature of Ian and Barley's world, but instead choose to let the natural emotions of Scanlon's cathartic exercise breathe via the character development and creativity channeled through the heartwarming story. Does Onward reach the emotional heights of Up or Inside Out? Maybe not. Does it surpass the creativity enlisted in Toy Story or Coco? Not necessarily. What Onward does do though is serve as this largely ambitious endeavor that's presented through the guise of this quaint, familiar package. It's a familiarity that, even in a film with genuinely heavy moments and poignant themes, resonates comfort and charm. Like any good product of the Pixar brand, it will have you beaming through the tears.

READY PLAYER ONE Review

Director Steven Spielberg has a way with not only bringing the viewer into the spectacle, but making them appreciate the aura of the spectacle he has concocted on screen. We're not just in awe of what we're seeing on screen, but we're in awe of how it makes us feel. Spielberg is a master of this kind of spellbinding visual storytelling, but as the filmmaker has grown older his filmography has naturally become more serious. That is to say, it's been a decade since that fourth Indiana Jones movie and while Spielberg has co-directed a motion-capture Tintin movie here and an adaptation of The BFG there the majority of Spielberg's latter filmography consists of more "adult" projects. With his latest, Ready Player One, Spielberg returns to that era he helped define with films like Raiders of the Lost Ark, E.T. the Extra Terrestrial, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, Jurassic Park, and even Hook as Ready Player One mines the kind of wonder each of those films elicited as they were all, in some fashion, told from the point of view of a child who was allowed to run wild with and fully indulge in their imagination. Some may state that this is the very thing wrong with Ready Player One in that it is a little too indulgent in such imagination; reveling in the nostalgia of pop culture rather than relying on its own inventiveness to make it stand apart yet feel familiar. And yet, the way in which Ready Player One utilizes these aspects to tell a brand new story is so creative and so striking in its relatability-especially to an movie-goer-that it feels rooted in a truth that movies were afraid to discuss until now. It may be due to the fact that I came of age in an era where the site of that T-Rex in Jurassic Park was something that couldn't have been realized in such life-like fashion prior or because I grew up re-watching Hook to the point those lost boys became an integral part of my childhood, but the fact of the matter is Ready Player One doesn't just utilize the same tone and a barrage of references to trick audience members who might have an affection for any one of the many cameos this thing trots out in order to make them feel an affinity for this new product, but rather it takes the real world into account, advances it into a hyper, but all too probable reality, and then comments on how it's nice to indulge in our imaginations and appreciate what others have given us with theirs, but that-as with everything-balance is key and it requires real world interactions and relationships and experiences to allow those imaginations to grow. It's not a groundbreaking thesis, but it's executed so well and is such a fun journey to go on the fact its ideas aren't brand-spanking new isn't a deal-breaker. If nothing else, it's a comforting reminder told from the perspective of a filmmaker with fresh (or at least re-invigorated) eyes.

SDCC: Debut Trailer for Steven Spielberg's READY PLAYER ONE

It seems as if Steven Spielberg has been working on an adaptation of Ernest Cline's 2011 novel, Ready Player One, since it was released, but now that work is turning into reward and reality as the first trailer/footage for Spielberg's big-budget science fiction and utopian/dystopian adaptation has arrived via Warner Bros and San Diego Comic-Con this weekend. Spielberg made his first appearance at Comic-Con since 2011 when he came with Peter Jackson to promote The Adventures of Tintin though this time around it was all about Spielberg and despite the obvious fact that he was once again welcomed with open arms he also made good on what the fans seemingly expected from the adaptation in that this first look at the footage certainly seems to have delivered the goods. If Comic-Con and Disney's D23 Expo have taught me anything this week though it is the fat that I have a lot of reading to do over the course of the next several months between both this and A Wrinkle in Time. Spielberg, along with cast members Tye Sheridan, Olivia Cooke, and T.J. Miller who were also in attendance alongside author Cline and screenwriter Zak Penn (The Incredible Hulk, X-Men: The Last Stand) presented the first footage from his highly anticipated sci-fi adaptation and as I've just stated the response seems to be overwhelmingly positive. As I personally had no expectations walking into the trailer or any real idea of what the story consisted of I was pleasantly surprised by the central idea the film and story seems to be centered around. At first, based simply on a plot description that told me that the creator of a massive multiplayer online game called Oasis dies and posthumously releases a video in which he challenges all Oasis users to find an Easter Egg that allows that player access to his fortune I thought it sounded very much like it would be akin to watching a video game play out on screen, but Spielberg has seemingly focused in on the mystery aspect of the story and the relevant themes of how each individual possesses their own particular version of reality via the ever-popular virtual reality. Spielberg also made heavy use of motion-capture for the film and that has made for what look to be some truly breathtaking visuals. That said, I'm also looking forward to getting a first look at The Papers, which is the director's real-life drama that’s currently in production with Tom Hanks and Meryl Streep and will actually be arriving in theaters first. Ready Player One also stars Hannah John-Kamen, Simon Pegg, Ben Mendelsohn, Mark Rylance, and opens on March 30th, 2018.