Onward 4K 2020 Ultra HD 2160p

The cartoon will take viewers to a world from which all magic has disappeared. Now all once magical creatures are doomed to the most ordinary existence. However, the two elf brothers Ian and Barley Lightfoot decide to make a difference and embark on an adventure full of dangers in search of the remnants of magic.

Onward 4K Review
Shy lonely elf Ian turns 16 years old - in honor of his almost coming of age, he intends to finally talk to the guys from school, invite them to his home and generally become a confident and brave boy. It turns out, however, so-so - at the last moment, his plans are hindered by his elder brother Barley, an unemployed loser, obsessed with a role-playing fantasy desktop game. Trying to somehow smooth out the failures of her son, the mother gives him and his brother a mysterious package that they got from the deceased father. In the bundle lies a magic staff - their father, a simple office clerk, at the end of his life suddenly hit the esoteric and began to believe in magic that had long gone from their world.

With the help of a staff and a spell, the guys try to return their father for at least one day, but something goes wrong and only the lower half arises from the parent. Now the brothers will have to travel far beyond the city to find the mythical stone of the Phoenix and complete the spell, and they only have 24 hours to do this.

Pixar somehow long ago promised that the fourth part of Toy Story would be the last in their seemingly endless series of sequels - no more than Wheelbarrows 3, Monster Academy or the third Incredibles. Only the original, only, ahem, "Forward." And for some reason, the honor to open this new era of the animation company did not go to the studio veterans - Andrew Stanton there, Lee Ancrich or Pete Docter (he will perform “Soul” later that year), but to Dan Scanlon. The director of one of the most unremarkable works of the studios - "Monster University".

"Forward" is, of course, a big step forward for Scanlon, but, to paraphrase the legendary dictum, a small step for Pixar itself. A cartoon with a shock, in the best traditions of the studio, a concept - about a world where fabulous creatures live by the laws of the post-industrial world, forgetting about all magic and miracles - turns into a very simple family road movie with a strange necrotome a la “Man - a Swiss knife "For the little ones.

His main problem - the figure of the absent (in this case, ha, literally) father - is certainly acute and always relevant, but, in contrast to the deeply psychological “Puzzle” and “The Secret of Coco”, “Forward” comprehends it rather superficially. Hiding behind a hundred-year-old plot moves and equally ancient conflicts - even a viewer of not the very age group will be able to predict their development.

Which, however, in no case does “Forward” bad. It’s just that the studio lifted up such a bar with its work that talking about this same bar is already bad news: in their case, even “just fine” is almost perceived as a failure. “Forward”, with all its unpretentiousness and sometimes excessive sweetness - the heroes here like to say their grievances and injuries out loud - can be ridiculous, can be seriously entertained by action scenes and, of course, like any Pixar cartoon, it can be inexpressibly touching . Moreover, in the finale, his penny story suddenly makes an interesting emotional turn, which, if you look, arises almost out of nowhere, but nonetheless works.

The scenario “Forward” - it is all outward, naked, but this is its special charm. The dramaturgy of this cartoon can generally be used as a visual textbook for young writers - it is so clear and visible here all the accents and bits are placed. So precisely the picture handles the fleeting details and forwarding the phrases said - almost all of them later respond to the plot in the most unexpected way. “Forward” is an excellent example of craft, but talented and craft work, and in the era of money-sucking studios such as Illumination, even this, to be honest, is a huge gift.