Den kommande Pixar-filmen Soul bekräftades nyligen få Disney Plus-premiär lagom till jul och skippar därmed biografer. Säga vad man vill om Disneys nya streamingstrategi, men vi kan tydligen se framemot en riktig filmpärla om vi ska tro amerikanska kritiker som fick se en förhandsvisning av filmen under BFI London Film Festival. The Hollywood Reporter var nämligen mycket imponerade av filmens emotionella intelligens:
Directed by Pete Docter and co-directed by Kemp, equipped with a screenplay and story credited to Docter, Powers and Mike Jones, this densely packed, exquisitely executed and just a teensy bit batshit film is peak Pixar. It's a vintage mix of the company's intricate storytelling, complex emotional intelligence, technical prowess and cerebral whimsy on dexamethasone.
The Independent UK kallar Soul en av Pixars allra bästa:
Not only does Soul live up to Pixar's own impossibly high standards, but it represents the very best the studio has to offer: beauty, humour, heart, and a gut-punch of an existential crisis. The children will laugh and cheer; the adults will sob until their muscles ache.
Även Total Film stämde in i hyllningskören:
Moving ever-onward from the sequels years, Pixar gets right back in the zone with Soul. Deep, witty, and fast on its jazz-loving feet, it doesn't miss a beat.
Empire höll dock tillbaka hyllningarna något:
For all its vision, though, it's a little Pixar-lite. It's a gorgeous 100 minutes, but not a huge emotional journey. The stakes seem strangely low, all things considered, without the big weepy gut punches you might hope for, certainly of the potency that Docter's unleashed in Up and Inside Out.
The Wrap tyckte också att filmen ironiskt nog saknade lite själ, även om det tydligen finns mycket att gilla i Pixars existentiella familjefilm:
There is so much to enjoy and ponder in "Soul," not least the predominance of African American characters and some fine music, with contributions from jazz luminaries including Herbie Hancock, Roy Haynes and Jon Batiste. It will light up Christmas Day, no problem, but I felt some residual disappointment, a lingering tinge of regret that it doesn't have the courage of all its convictions.
Weirdly, amid all the glistening animation, layers of polished storyboarding, tidy life philosophies and zingy dialogue exchanges, what's missing at the end, is a bit of soul.
Vi svenskar kommer att få avgöra detta den 25 december på Disney Plus. Ser du fram emot detta?