I Really Wanted To Like ‘Soul’ – A Spoiler Filled Review
Soul seemed like it would be right up my alley in terms of themes and motives, but ultimately ended up falling flat.
Soul is the newest Disney/Pixar film and currently available on Disney+. It’s the story of Joe Gardner, a middle school jazz teacher who is looking for his big break. Unfortunately, a misstep lands him in The Great Before where he’s tasked with helping a wayward unborn soul find their spark in life.
Soul Spoiler Filled Review
I don’t think I’m the target audience for Soul, and that might be the biggest disappointment I have with this movie. Unfortunately, what seemed like it could have been a great movie about music, inspiration, and finding yourself is a mix of confusing character choices, poor pacing, disconnected story beats, and an overall unclear message.
Soul is not a bad overall movie. It really isn’t. However, it does feel unfinished. The problems of the movie can best be summed by in a few different scenes.
In this scene, Connie, one of Joe’s jazz students, shows up to his apartment to say she wants to quit. 22, in Joe’s body, talks to Connie and says she agrees with Connie’s idea that music and school are stupid. Then with no convincing from 22, Connie immediately changes her mind, and bounds down the stairs happily looking forward to tomorrow’s jazz lesson.
The whole scene feels rushed, and comes out of nowhere. It seems like they were trying to convey the idea of not realizing your own passions. But since the scene is so short, it’s jarring how quickly Connie does a full 180 within 60 seconds.
The confrontation scene between Joe and Libba, his mother, is equally as poorly paced. She’s not the antagonist, by the traditional sense, but she is a hurdle between Joe and what he wants. Throughout the entire first half of the movie, it is made abundantly clear that she does not approve of Joe’s desire to play jazz gigs. But then, Joe has an inspirational speech that also lasts not even a minute and not only does she not apologize, but she immediately flips and talks about how she always believed in him.
And perhaps my biggest gripe? Joe can do both. He can teach in the mornings and play jazz in the evenings. If Joe needs a break, they establish several times throughout the movie that is is very easy for them to find a replacement at a moment’s notice. Maybe I’m being overly pedantic, but one of the major hurdles in the movie really feels like it’s a nonissue.
Final Thoughts
I know this review has been entirely the negatives of the film. However, Soul does have positive aspects as well. It touches of themes of doubt, self-assurance, discovering your passions, accepting others, and more. But that is also something of a problem. The movie tries to touch on too many themes all at once and doesn’t give enough attention to any one message. This makes it really hard to know what they movie was trying to say.
Based on other reviews I’ve seen so far, seems like people love this movie. So, it seems like it’s just not for me. I watched it twice, in fact, just to really make sure I wasn’t letting my own biases and expectations get the better of me. But even still, I can’t get over the missteps this movie takes and how it just feels rushed and unpolished.
Maybe I’ll just go watch Coco again.
