Soul is a film that made me believe again in Pixar after a couple of sequels and mediocre originals. Toy Story 4 was, I think, as good as it could've been for part 4 to a trilogy, and Onward felt more like a Dreamworks, and they haven't made terrible movies outside of The Good Dinosaur lately, but I was hoping we would get something like Soul again.
It really resonated with me, and maybe that will make the difference between people calling this "great" while others just "good or ok", so that's valid. But I think it's great for many reasons and not just a relevant theme for a large audience.
The animation is incredible, along with the music, the message, its themes, humor, the voice work, and the effort put into portraying the black community in New York put it right there with Inside Out, UP, Wall-E and other greats. The plot, at least for me, doesn't lag at all in the middle. Someone called the plot with the cat something out of a bad Dreamworks movie while at the same time complaining about the "obsession with metaphysical themes," but that is straight up wrong and not at all a coherent argument.
Also, as a Mexican, I have a soft spot for Coco, but I can't really say that it's better than Soul or many of my top 5 Pixar movies (I've seen it compared to Coco already several times today).
Soul's respect for the AA community in America is a plus, but it works just as well without it, while Coco's script and story are very dependent on its uniqueness as a representation of Mexican folklore and culture. It stumbles a bit when trying to tie the world it's created with its message. It actually attempts to teach a lot of the same things as Soul, but doesn't quite manage it. Coco basically solves the main character's desire of playing music by solving the mystery of his great-great-grandfather's death, as it allows his family to love music again, but he doesn't actually doesn't grow much from his adventure. He just learns who his actual ancestor was, and that allows him to reverse the family's ban on music.
Here in Soul, you get a unique and touching message about the importance of enjoying life without obsessing over your "purpose" or passion (I love the valley of the lost souls and how it actually serves as a warning against making your passion an obsession that distracts you from living), and that is ultimately realized thanks to the lessons Joe learns from 22, the soul that doesn't want to live because it doesn't really want to live for just one single thing, like it thinks it should. Joe and 22 are at both extremes at first, with Joe wanting to live at all cost and 22 not interested in living, but they both realize they think living is about just one purpose of gift, when in reality, there are many things that can give you purpose and that "spark."
So, all in all, I give this movie mega-props for successfully telling its message and its themes, much like how Inside Out's message of growing emotionally by accepting complex feelings was very well realized.