Onward

Beneath their bluish skin and pointy ears, elves are people, too. At least that’s what the charming Onward wants us to believe.

This uneven animated saga from the Pixar juggernaut is hardly among the studio’s most memorable, yet still effectively tugs at the heartstrings with rich characters and emotional depth.

The story takes place in a familiar human world that happens to be populated by not only elves, but also everything from cyclops and sprites to dragons and centaurs.

Amid all this, Ian (voiced by Tom Holland) is a teenage elf at a suburban high school, dealing with the usual angst and awkwardness along with lingering sadness from his father’s death before he was even born.

His older brother Barley (Chris Pratt) shares their late dad’s affinity for magic, and when they discover an old wizard’s staff and spell he passed down, it presents an opportunity to reincarnate him for a single day. However, a mishap brings him back only from the waist down, leading to a frantic quest to rectify the problem before it’s too late.

As directed by Pixar veteran Dan Scanlon (Monsters University), the eye-catching animation is vibrant and crisply detailed, which comes as no surprise.

While exploring familiar coming-of-age themes, the by-committee screenplay modulates its comedic and dramatic elements best when specifically depicting the relationship between the father and sons. Once you consider the moral complexity of its premise, that dynamic will hit even closer to home for some moviegoers.

Meanwhile, most of the big laughs are supplied by the quirky periphery characters, many of which exemplify the fish-out-of-water silliness. There are also plenty of amusing sight gags and one-liners — for example, the father wearing a belt is a nice touch.

Still, the film struggles to integrate elements of fantasy and magic into its contemporary suburban setting without turning convoluted and contrived. The arbitrary nature of some of the spells and sayings create an emotional barrier for those not on the same wavelength.

Plus, the action sequences too often resemble watching a medieval role-playing game, to which the script makes some unintentionally self-reflexive references. It all builds to an elaborate finale that feels chaotic.

Yet somehow, perhaps magically, Onward ties everything together in heartwarming fashion when it remains focused on its bittersweet misadventures of two-and-a-half men.

Rated PG, 102 minutes.