There's a lot to like in Onward, the least of which is its bright, appealing animation, character design and world building, but you wouldn't expect anything less from an outfit as accomplished as Pixar.

| Original Score: 3.5/5 | Apr 6, 2020

The second half pulled it together. By the end of it, I was like, "well done."

| Mar 30, 2020

Onward feels a bit more subdued than a typical Pixar affair, and while the movie wears its heart on its sleeve, it might not be quite as engaging for younger viewers.

| Original Score: 3/5 | Mar 25, 2020

Do families need fathers? Scanlon delivers a love song to atypical clans, which couldn't end on a sweeter, or clearer, note.

| Original Score: 4/5 | Mar 10, 2020

The fractious bond between the brothers and their aching anger at the loss of a parent are evoked with exquisite sorrow and clarity.

| Original Score: 3/5 | Mar 8, 2020

Scanlon's film is an improvement on his previous directorial effort, the pointless prequel Monsters University. But Onward falls well short of magical.

| Original Score: 3/5 | Mar 7, 2020

Even mid-level Pixar still casts a spell.

| Mar 7, 2020

While it isn't as emotionally involving as some other Pixar films, there is sufficient artistry and joyful storytelling here

| Mar 6, 2020

Onwardmanages to find a balance between comedy and adventure that's eminently satisfying. The "magic" ingredient that drives this movie is sincerity.

| Mar 6, 2020

[Onward] feels frantically eager to please, until it tries to yank at your heartstrings in the by-now familiar formula of Pixar Animation.

| Original Score: 2/4 | Mar 6, 2020

The adventure and world building in Onward are utterly delightful with an especially effective balance of playfulness and depth.

| Original Score: 4.5/5 | Mar 6, 2020

A likable family comedy that finds an easy rhythm without effort.

| Original Score: 3/5 | Mar 6, 2020

[It's] a pretty gosh darn imaginative place, and it's a safe bet kids of all shapes and sizes will look at it all in wide-eyed glee.

| Original Score: 3/4 | Mar 6, 2020

A testament to the remarkable degree of emotional expressiveness that Pixar's character-animators can imbue into a story.

| Mar 6, 2020

Only a true cynic could wholly resist Onward's deeper themes, but they come in the service of a movie that has to be classified in the mid-level tier of the Pixar file.

| Mar 5, 2020

It's enjoyable enough if you don't mind machine-made entertainment, but so desperate to please that it wears out its welcome long before the closing credits.

| Mar 5, 2020

As a Pixar entry, it may be the first to explicitly grapple with not the trials of childhood, but the fraught onset of adulthood. By the time "Onward" has wrapped its journey, it will probably be the only movie with a manticore to make you cry.

| Original Score: 3/4 | Mar 5, 2020

It may not be as revolutionary as some of Pixar's past offerings - and in that sense, it offers a glimpse of the studio's likely future - but it still retains a spark of that old-time magic.

| Original Score: 3.5/5 | Mar 5, 2020

Onward is visually dazzling, which is no surprise given those involved. But the simplistic, cookie-cutter storyline, which verges on the video game-esque without really being as fun as a supercool video game, is a letdown.

| Original Score: 2/5 | Mar 5, 2020

A slightly weird story, made tolerable by moments of humor and pathos.

| Original Score: 2.5/4 | Mar 5, 2020