If anything, Soul is guilty of over-ambition. The wizardry and wit are there, but it lacks Pixar’s usual deftness in making complex themes sing for youngsters.

| Original Score: 3/5 | Jul 25, 2023

What follows is an absolute delight. It will make any viewer cherish the life they have and want to live it more fully, every single day, ideally with lots of laughs along the way.

| Original Score: 4/5 | Feb 13, 2021

It shortchanges itself at every turn by overextending itself.

| Feb 8, 2021

It's got a bebopping spirit that's difficult to resist.

| Feb 3, 2021

Doctor, Powers and Mike Jones have written a sweet, simple, happy, sad, soul-stirring story that reminds you that every now and then that it's important to stop and smell the flowers.

| Jan 26, 2021

Even with the film's bid for a suspension of racial disbelief, the racial-passing narrative in the second act of Soul is acutely bizarre.

| Jan 25, 2021

An entertaining, exuberant effort about our existence with comedic shenanigans, deep thoughts and wondrous imagination.

| Original Score: 3/4 | Jan 22, 2021

It's funny, and it's imaginative, but it's also just very, very real.

| Original Score: 4.5/5 | Jan 22, 2021

Soul is nuanced and layered, but it's not perfect. Yet, despite the serious themes, the richness of the narrative and the stunning jazz score make it more than worthwhile.

| Jan 14, 2021

It's some of the most striking work that Pixar has ever turned in.

| Jan 12, 2021

The meaning of "Soul" also comes through in the pointillist realism of Pixar. As delightful as its imagery of the afterlife is, the best stuff might be back on Earth.

| Original Score: 3.5/4 | Jan 12, 2021

In the absence of transcendence, Terry tickled me into giggles. That'll do just fine.

| Original Score: 3.5/5 | Jan 12, 2021

You can tell this is a movie where they put a lot of thought into what they wanted to take away from the message about souls and about what unites us... I think it is just an absolutely beautiful film.

| Jan 4, 2021

Music wallpapers every frame of Soul, with Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross sure to be nominated for another Oscar for their jazz-infused score.

| Original Score: 4/4 | Dec 30, 2020

Toggling between the two worlds, Soul finds a near extraordinary visual and sonic landscape.

| Dec 29, 2020

I feel like an ingrate as I complain about a mainstream Disney release that doesn't talk down to its audience, a Trojan horse of philosophizing packaged as shiny entertainment. But as much as I was intrigued by Soul, I didn't actually enjoy the experience

| Dec 29, 2020

It's easy to become blase about the visual brilliance, both technical and artistic, of Pixar's output, but Soul really is a treat for the eyes.

| Original Score: 4/5 | Dec 29, 2020

In its attempt to provide clever answers to unknowable questions, Soul just makes everything more confusing.

| Dec 29, 2020

Qualms aside, Soul is one of the more thought-provoking Pixar releases in years.

| Original Score: 4/5 | Dec 29, 2020

My favorite part was the earth-bound stuff, which featured one of the most evocative renderings of New York City I've ever seen on film, animated or not.

| Original Score: 3/4 | Dec 29, 2020