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David McK (3372 KP) rated Onward (2020) in Movies

Nov 6, 2020  
Onward (2020)
Onward (2020)
2020 | Adventure, Animation, Comedy
8
8.1 (48 Ratings)
Movie Rating Watch
Late 2019, early 2020.

I rsaw a lot of ads in the cinema for this film. Then (in the UK) Covid-19 hit.

As a result, I'm not honestly sure whether this got a big screen release or not: I actually watched it via Disney+, not really knowing what to expect.

I thoroughly enjoyed it.

Set in a mystical realm where magic had all but died out (Unicorns as garbage rats? Genius!) due to the advent of technology, this follows two elf brothers who are able to partially bring their deceased dad briefly back to life, after the younger of the 2 opens his birthday present from said dad of a wizards staff. Only enough magic to 'bring back' his legs, so off they go on a quest for a power source to enable them to bring back the rest of his body.

What really follows is a story about familial bonding, that pulls in the heartstrings as well as made me laugh out loud on a few occasions!
  
    Dwellings of Eldervale

    Dwellings of Eldervale

    (0 Ratings) Rate It

    Tabletop Game

    Dwellings of Eldervale is an epic worker placement game set in a once lost magical world. Giant...

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David McK (3372 KP) rated Guards! Guards! Discworld Novel 8 in Books

Jul 15, 2023  
Guards! Guards! Discworld Novel 8
Guards! Guards! Discworld Novel 8
Tony Robinson, Terry Pratchett, Ben Aaronovitch | 2012 | Fiction & Poetry
8
8.4 (10 Ratings)
Book Rating
When people ask which Discworld book to start with, I often tell them to skip the first two in the series (The Colour of Magic and The Light Fantastic), then ask in which direction their interests lie.

Reimagining of famous plays/fairytales? Try any in The Witches series.

Primarily murder whodunnits? The Guards.

Of which this is the first.

So this is the one to introduce the reader to Sam Vimes, Nobby Nobbs, Fred Colon and Carrot Ironfoundersson, as well as featuring a prominent role for The Patrician of Ankh-Morpork, and which would lead to perhaps the most-revisited characters in the entire Discworld series - I think Pratchett returned to the Watch a further 7 times, for a total of 8 such novels.

Quick google search: yes, 8 times. Only matched by the Wizards of Unseen University.

Anyway, this is the one that sees a secret society summoning a Dragon in the hopes of installing a puppet ruler to the vacant throne of Ankh-Morpork, before things go awry ...
  
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BankofMarquis (1832 KP) rated Onward (2020) in Movies

Mar 25, 2020  
Onward (2020)
Onward (2020)
2020 | Adventure, Animation, Comedy
7
8.1 (48 Ratings)
Movie Rating Watch
Fun...but..."lesser" PIxar
I am a big fan of the PIXAR films. I am a big fan of Chris Pratt and Tom Holland. I am a big fan of Fantasy films (wizards, elves, dwarves and so on...) So when I heard there was going to be a Pixar flick featuring the voice talents of Pratt and Holland about characters in a Fantasy world, I was excited to check it out.

I should have lowered my expectations.

Don't get me wrong, ONWARD is a good film. It is whimsical, fantastic and fun. It just could have been better.

Set in a time where Elves, Faeries, Unicorns and Wizards exist, but they exist as "regular" people, going to jobs, going to school, living their lives...ONWARD tells the tale of 2 brothers (Pratt and Holland) who go on a magical quest to bring back their dead father - at least for one night.

It's a fun romp, but it's not a REALLY fun romp. And that's the issue with this film. It is all lower case - where the film could have been UPPER CASE (if you know what I mean). Holland and Pratt are good together, they are not GREAT together (like Tom Hanks and Tim Allen in TOY STORY or Billy Crystal and John Goodman in MONSTER'S INC.). Julia Louis-Dreyfuss is off-beat as their mother, but she isn't over-the-top WACKY as the mother. Octavio Spencer is "octane" as a former mythical creature that aids the boys - but she's not HIGH-OCTANE.

You get the drift.

I lay the fault of this on Director Dam Scanlon who's other Pixar Directorial effort, MONSTER'S UNIVERSITY suffered from a similar malaise. It was fun...not AWESOME FUN. The pacing of the film doesn't really help as there is no strong push to the goal in this film. I caught myself stirring in my seat as the film progressed...never a good sign.

Don't get me wrong, it is still a good film - the kids will like it. I just have come to expect more from PIXAR. I put Pixar films on 2 levels - GREAT Pixar films (the TOY STORY films, UP, WALL-E) and LESSER Pixar films (MONSTER'S UNIVERSITY, CARS 2, BRAVE).

I would put ONWARD in the LESSER category.

Letter Grade: B (even a "lesser" Pixar film is still above average)

7 stars (out of 10) and you can take that to the Bank (ofMarquis)