Movie Review: ‘Onward’ is a Dungeons and Dragons quest made modern

If you’re a fan of the fantasy genre, especially the kind that plays Dungeons and Dragons, then Disney & Pixar’s “Onward” is practically made for you.

As someone who plays D&D, I felt like I was sitting around a table with my friends and rolling for initiative each time brothers Barley and Ian ran into another obstacle on their quest.

“Onward” follows the story of two elf brothers, Ian (Tom Holland) and Barley (Chris Pratt) on a quest through a modern-day fantasy world that, over time, has evolved past the use of magic in favor of electronics and technology.

The brothers find that their father, who passed away before Ian was born, was secretly a wizard and that he left them a magic staff and a spell to bring him back for one whole day.

Unfortunately, since Ian is a novice magic-user, he only manages to bring the bottom-half of their dad back before his magic-crystal is used up, and so the boys set out to find a new one before the passage of 24 hours. The boys have to confront giant beasts, the police, and pixie-bikers as they tow along their father’s sentient legs to get a chance to see the rest of him one last time.

While it’s true that fantasy genre fans are the target audience for “Onward,” the core of the movie is a family trying to be reunited with a lost loved one, even for a little while — something that we all wish we could do. Of course, being a Pixar movie, it’s going to tug at your heartstrings and tear ducts, so make sure you go prepared for it.

“Onward” is in theaters on March 6, is rated PG and runs just under 2 hours. I definitely recommend it for kids above the age of 8 or 9, as it has a pretty complex story that younger kids may get a bit bored with. I’ll definitely be seeing it again and taking my D&D friends with me sometime this March.

Check out the official trailer below:

In the Parks

Guests at the Disneyland After Dark: Pixar Nite event on March 5 will get to see Ian and Barley make their Disney Parks debut.

Starting the next day, a meet and greet with the elf brothers will be opening at Disney California Adventure’s Pixar Pier. They will later make their way to Hong Kong Disneyland as part of the return of the Pixar Water Play Street Party.