Onward Movie Storyline. In the modern day, Ian Lightfoot is a teenaged elf struggling with self-confidence; his older brother, Barley, is an enthusiastic and impulsive role-playing gamer. On Ian’s sixteenth birthday, the boys’ mother, Laurel, gives her sons a gift from their father, Wilden, who died shortly before Ian was born: a magical staff, a rare Phoenix gem, and a letter describing a “visitation spell” that can resurrect Wilden for a single day.
Ian succeeds in casting the spell but, interrupted by Barley, is unable to finish it. As a result, only the lower half of Wilden’s body is reformed before the gem disintegrates. The brothers embark on a quest to acquire another gem and complete the spell before sunset, taking Barley’s beloved van “Guinevere.” Finding the boys gone, Laurel leaves to look for them.
Hoping to finding a map to another gem, Ian and Barley visit the Manticore’s Tavern–once a gathering-place for would-be adventurers, now a family restaurant managed by the Manticore (“Corey”). While arguing with Ian over the map, Corey realizes how unfulfilling her life has become and loses her temper, accidentally setting fire to the restaurant and the map. The brothers’
only clue to the gem is a children’s menu suggesting “Raven’s Point,” a nearby mountain. Laurel later arrives at the scene and befriends Corey, who warns Laurel that the gem is guarded a curse that can only be defeated by an enchanted sword. After stealing the sword from a pawn shop, they set out in pursuit of Ian and Barley.
Traveling to the mountains, Barley proposes following what he calls the “Path of Peril”, but Ian insists on taking the freeway. As they travel, Ian begins mastering magic spells that Barley remembers from his role-playing game. They narrowly escape a motorcycle gang of pixies at a gas station and have a tense encounter with the police, which the boys disguise themselves as Colt Bronco, during which Ian inadvertently reveals that he considers Barley to be a screw-up.
To apologize, Ian agrees to follow the Path of Peril. Ian’s self-confidence is boosted when he successfully uses a spell that allows him to walk across a bottomless pit, where unbeknownst to him, was walking without the rope that Barley tied him to over the second half of the pit. Bronco catches up to the boys and forces them to come home, Ian agrees, but as he starts the van, he drives away, leading to a wild police chase. When they are pursued by the police, Barley sacrifices Guinevere to cause a landslide, blocking their pursuers.
Onward is a 2020 American computer-animated urban fantasy adventure film produced by Pixar Animation Studios and released by Walt Disney Pictures. The film is directed by Dan Scanlon, produced by Kori Rae and written by Scanlon, Jason Headley, and Keith Bunin, and stars the voices of Tom Holland, Chris Pratt, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, and Octavia Spencer. Set in a suburban fantasy world, the film follows two elf brothers who set out on a quest to find an artifact that will temporarily bring back their dead father.
Onward premiered at the 70th Berlin International Film Festival on February 21, 2020, and was theatrically released on March 6, 2020. The film received generally positive reviews from critics, and has grossed $141 million worldwide, becoming a box office bomb. It lost revenue against a budget that ranges upwards $200 million.
The film also received backlash in several countries in Asia for its portrayal of a lesbian character. The film’s financial shortcomings were a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to the widespread closure of movie theaters. Like several other films released in the early months of 2020, it was made available digitally several weeks after its theatrical opening.
Onward (2020)
Directed by: Dan Scanlon
Starring: Tom Holland, Chris Pratt, John Ratzenberger, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Octavia Spencer
Screenplay by: Dan Scanlon
Art Department: Simon Baek, Peter Chan, Lou Hamou-Lhadj, Louise Smythe
Visual Effects by: Adrian Bell, Tim Best, Mariana Galindo
Music by: Jeff Danna, Mychael Danna
MPAA Rating: None.
Distributed by: Walt Disney Pictures
Release Date: March 6, 2020
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