Rick Bentley started his review by saying, “Like a
cinematic alchemist, director Peter Sohn (“Lightyear”) has mixed all of the
right elements to create the latest Disney and Pixar offering, “Elemental.” The
problem is that the final compound is not that explosive.”
“Elemental” takes place in Elemental City, a suburb
where fire, water, land, and air residents live together. As long as fire and
land don’t encounter or water and fire collide, everything is great. One of the
best parts of the film is watching how the elements are given human traits.
Ember (Leah Lewis) is a fiery young woman who is
caught between being a good daughter and building a relationship with the
easygoing water boy Wade (Mamoudou Athis). They have been told their entire
lives that fire and water just don’t mix and being together is dangerous for
both of them.
Writers John Hoberg, Kat Likkel, and Brenda Hsueh put
together two different storylines. There is the story of Ember and her father,
Bernie, voiced by Ronnie del Carmen. They had always planned on Ember taking
over the family store when she was ready. The only problem is her impulsivity keeps
getting in the way.
Then there is the elemental-crossed Ember and Wade. Bentley
noted, “They feel an attraction but that like an acid and an alkali, they know
their mixture could be disastrous.”
Had the writers focused on the young romance, “Elemental”
would have been a good combination of humanizing and funny material. They just
weren’t satisfied and slowly kept adding more and more elements to the story.
The big storyline has to do with immigration. Bentley
compared, “Just like those who came to Ellis Island, when Bernie and his wife,
Cinder (Shila Ommi) arrive at Element City, they are stripped of their native
names and given more generic identification.”
The film leans heavily into the reality that there is
prejudice between the elements. Bernie and Cinder turned away because their the
element of fire. They eventually find a home and build a life. However, there
are elements of racism all over the production.
There is also an economic element at play. The fact
Element City is made to be more accommodating for the water people shows that
there are some ethnic groups – even those made up of fire, water, wind, or
earth – who have risen above the others and take advantage of that.
Bentley said, “Additional plot themes never get strong
enough to eclipse the young romance parts of the story.” Even that part of the
story comes with a realistic lesson on racism as the two young people have
always been told they could never be with the other kind.
All of this plays out against the amazing visuals that
have become such a strong trademark of Pixar animation. Bentley mentioned, “The
team was given a world of visual building blocks to depict what life would be
like living as a walking flame, a free-crying water or even a blustery wind.”
Over the years, elements like fire and water have been
a challenge for animators creating computer-generated characters. Bentley said,
“Getting those elements to have a natural movement in a pixelated world took
work but the result is this film where every flicker or drip looks like a
creation of Mother Nature.”
The film does have some original music but nothing
memorable. Bentley compared, “Thomas Newman’s score is functional but is little
more than the kind of music that gets ignored in elevators.”
As had been the main point with Pixar films, there is
one musical number added that does little to move the story but serves more as
a possible Oscar nomination. The most recent example was We Don’t Talk
About Bruno from “Encanto.”
“Elemental’s” song, Steal the Show was
written and performed by Lauv. The song isn’t bad but just not memorable.
Everything comes together to make “Elemental” a film that
gives some entertainment value but does not have the kind of fire that past
films from the company have had. Bentley said, “There is a short film before
the feature featuring Carl from “Up.” Those few minutes are packed with far
more emotions than in the 103 minutes of the movie.”
Sohn could be suffering from having to live up to the
standard set by a studio that created such emotionally and entertaining films
like “Monster’s, Inc.” and “Toy Story.” Because of the company’s history, what
would be a major success for another studio ends up feeling less successful
because of the Disney and Pixar names.
Bentley compared, “The pieces of “Elemental” go
together just like the blending of hydrogen and oxygen to create water. Water
serves a purpose but is not that exciting on its own.” The same can be said of “Elemental.”
In the end, I liked the film. Sure, the story is
nothing compared to past films that might have told a similar story, like “Zootopia”
and “Onward,” but I believe everyone will still love this movie. I wouldn’t say
this is one of the best, but it is still a good Pixar movie. Especially with
how Pixar keeps making each film look better than the previous one. I mean it,
the animation in this film is one of the best I have seen from Pixar. This
looks like a city I would love to live in. Besides the segregation and
prejudice in here, I think it will be great to live here. If you missed the
chance to see this in theaters, see it on Disney+. Watch it with the entire
family, everyone will enjoy this.
Thank you for joining in on tonight’s Pixar review.
Stay tuned Friday for the continuation of “Morgan Freeman Month.”
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