How to describe “Soul”? It’s not an easy thing to do, for either a plot or emotional stance. There’s a lot going on under the surface, visually, and emotionally in Pete Docter (“Inside Out,” “Up”) and Kemp Powers’s (“One Night in Miami,” “Star Trek: Discovery”) animated music adventure. One thing’s certain though; it’s an adventure unlike anything Pixar’s done before.
Jamie Foxx (“Collateral,” “Django Unchained”) plays Joe Gardner, an aspiring musician who dies only moments after getting an opportunity to potentially launch his musical career. What happens after that is an extremely complicated and emotionally intelligent adventure that still finds a way to pack in the trademark Pixar lighthearted wit with boatloads of introspective discussions and potentially traumatizing imagery.
Foxx delivers a performance that rivals his absolute best roles, vocal or physical. He comits to this character in such a genuine and complete way, lending him the kind of small vocal touches that only the very best voice actors can do. Tina Fey (“30 Rock,” “Mean Girls”) as 22 is also excellent, and the pair have a delightful, if initially apprehensive, chemistry.
The rest of the supporting voices are also great. Pixar has a great track record of having standout characters who may only appear for a handful of minutes due to their excellent vocal performances and the same is true here. The likes of Graham Norton (“Absolutely Fabulous: The Movie,” “The Graham Norton Show”), Rachel House (“Thor: Ragnarok,” “Hunt for the Wilderpeople”), Alice Braga (“Elysium,” “Queen of the South”), Richard Ayoade (“The IT Crowd,” “Submarine”), and Questlove are all great, though even amongst the supporting cast there are standouts.
A confrontation between Joe and his mother, voiced perfectly by Phylicia Rashad (“The Cosby Show,” “Creed”) showcases her uniquely warm and stern voice in excellent capacity. Donnell Rawlings (“The Wire,” “Chappelle Show”) appears for mere minutes as Joe’s barber Dez, but the comforting teddy bear nature of his voice and character leave a lasting impression. And the wise, soulful nature of Angela Bassett’s (“Boyz N The Hood,” “What’s Love Got To Do With It?”) Dorothea Williams, one of Joe’s jazz idols, easily places her in the upper echelon of Pixar’s many mentor figures.
There is a lot going on in this tale, and Doctor, Powers, and writer Mike Jones all manage to keep it just light enough to still be considered family fair. However, they also avoid spelling things out for the audience, which not only shows that they clearly respect their viewers intelligence to piece a story like this together, but also allows different viewers to take away different things from this tale.
It’s a potentially catastrophic way to tell a story; to leave it so open for interpretation that anyone can get something different from it. However, Docter’s decades of experience as one of Pixar’s best directors and Powers’s experience as an award-winning playwright both coalesce here in just the right ways to keep everything precariously balanced.
Musically, Pixar films have always been great but occasionally blend together. This is not even remotely the case with “Soul,” which features a great mixture of original Jazz compositions from Jon Batiste and an ethereal and melodic original score from Trent Reznor & Atticus Ross (“The Social Network,” “The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (2011)”).
It is virtually impossible to talk about “Soul” without mentioning the way it looks. Pixar has always been at the bleeding edge of visual fidelity for their films, but “Soul” feels different. Not only are many of the environments and concepts far more abstract than even in “Inside Out,” but the usage of contracting colors, 2D animation, and pure white space is both gorgeous and sometimes utterly haunting. It’s also impressively and faultlessly lit, giving some environments a legitimate photorealistic look.
Skin and cloth textures are also a highlight, as is the wide variety of people on display. There are varying body types and ages of all kinds, and it’s hard to describe why this is worth mentioning until you see it. Something about watching Joe talk with his mother and seeing the creases on her face as she squints and talks to him are breathtaking. It also helps that Pixar consulted with cinematographer Bradford Young (“Arrival,” “A Most Violent Year”) to make sure that their lighting worked with the various tones of black skin present in the film.
“Soul” feels like a remarkably calm film given how much it talks about death, life, purpose, and meaningless-ness. It feels like sitting down and pouring your heart out to an old friend, someone who will sit with you, joke with, but never invalidate the worries you’re mentioning. Its difficult to describe how incredible it is to just watch it. From a technical level, its flawless. From an emotional level, it seems chemically combined to allow each viewer to get something different out of it.
As someone who wants to create and who worries about what they’ll leave for this world one day, it’s an earth-shattering revelatory masterpiece. Pixar-Nay, Pete Doctor and Kemp Powers have created the next great masterpiece of animated storytelling, and what will surely be remembered as one of the best films of this new decade. 5/5
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