With COVID-19 still around, many movie theaters are still shut down. Because theaters are still closed, it has been hard for many companies, like Disney and Dreamworks, to show new feature films. To fix this problem, many companies are giving people the ability to rent or stream new feature films. That way the companies still get the money while the people are able to watch new movies. Subscriptions for some of these streaming platforms can range from $4.99 per month to $14.99 per month. One of the biggest streaming platforms out there is Disney Plus. A subscription for Disney Plus costs about $6.99 per month, and it is where Disney has been releasing their new feature films throughout 2020. A new movie from Pixar, called Soul, launched on Disney Plus on December 25 of 2020. 

The new animated feature film Soul, directed by Pete Docter, is a movie about a struggling musician named Joe Gardner, who is voiced by Jamie Foxx. When Joe Gardner finally gets the music gig of his dreams, he has a near death experience. Joe’s soul is sent to the walkway to get to The Great Beyond but Joe is not ready to go. Joe starts to run in the opposite direction of the walkway, trying to get away from The Great Beyond. While running away, Joe manages to fall off the walkway and end up in The Great Before. 

The Great Before is where souls are given their personalities and their spark before they head down to Earth. In The Great Before, souls are able to get help from mentors to find their spark. The mentors in The Great Before are people who have already lived their life, and they show their life to the souls in hopes that something from their life will give them their spark to go down to Earth. Once souls receive their spark, they receive an Earth badge that lets them go down to Earth.

When Joe accidentally ends up in The Great Before, he meets a soul named 22. 22 has been in The Great Before for centuries and does not want anything to do with Earth. Joe convinces 22 to help him make his way back to Earth, because he does not want to miss the gig of his dreams.

Many critics have watched the movie Soul,  and it mostly has good reviews. On Rotten Tomatoes, Soul has received a 96% rating and the critic consensus is that “A film as beautiful to contemplate as it is to behold, Soul proves Pixar’s power to deliver outstanding all-ages entertainment remains undimmed”. Niel Soans, a critic from Times of India said that the movie “Soul isn’t Pixar’s finest or most resonant film, but it’s beautiful animation and soundtrack, paired with fun characters make for an enjoyable watch”. On most of the critics’ reviews of the movie Soul, they each make it clear to the audience that the movie contains beautiful animation and an amazing soundtrack. Even though most of the reviews about the movie Soul are good, there are some critics who make the point about how Joe Gardner, an African American man, is a soul for at least half of the movie. 

There are not many animated films that have an African American as the main character, and when they are a main character, they are usually tuned into an animal or something else for most of the film. For example, in the 2009 film Princess and the Frog, the main character Tiana, an African American woman, is a frog for about 23 minutes of the movie out of the 40 minutes of screen time that she gets. This is impactful on the African American community because they do not get a lot of representation in the media. 

In my opinion, I believe that the movie Soul gives the audience a lot to think about. This movie made me think about my own life choices and how I am going to live life to the fullest. Soul also made me think about how I mostly take life for granted, and I should start appreciating the things that I normally don’t think about, like running or walking. The humor in this movie wasn’t bad. It also made me laugh a few times and it did have some good jokes, but I liked how the movie didn’t have a lot of comedy to focus on the main message of the film. I believe that the message of the film was to start appreciating life and truly value the memories you have with friends and family. I totally recommend this movie to anyone and I hope to watch it again soon.