In a city where fire, water, land, & air residents live together, a fiery young woman & a go-with-the-flow guy will discover something elemental: How much they have in common.
At its worst, the ambition of “Elemental” feels misplaced with how its forced to color inside the lines when it really wants to go outside but at its best, how much it was still able to tell through its emotional core did surprise me.
I really should get behind this movie on paper; after all, it is in many ways the epitome of a classic Pixar template……and in some ways, it meets some of those standards in execution as well. The animation is drop dead gorgeous as expected, once again bringing to life another lovingly created world with carefully delineated rules, eye-popping visuals with vibrancy and seamless dexterity and visceral textures and movements that just make all the settings pop. The atmosphere it delivers from its animation alone helps supply a dreamlike and more endearing personality, cinematography has some pretty compelling shots that sell a sense of artistry and purpose in the staging of each scene and the editing complements that wonderfully.
Compared to his previous works, Peter Sohn is firmly in his element here (no pun intended) as we get dabbles of his personality sprinkled into each scene he directs and while the fragility of his craft we saw in The Good Dinosaur is still present, his direction feels firmly in his comfort zone and oozes enough confidence. Thomas Newman’s score is pleasant to listen to, and it all flows along at a consistent enough pace. You can argue the film’s content being sparse makes the pacing feel sluggish and a tad long but I’d say it barely avoids getting to that point.
That being said, the acting is pretty self explanatory; everybody does and delivers their best and the inflections they give away with their characters fulfill the roles required for their part in the overall narrative. Leah Lewis and Mamoudou Athie as the main leads are stellar….even if their chemistry doesn’t always translate well.
Part of me knows I should not be conflicted over a simple story about two people from two different backgrounds falling in love with one another; it’s been a done-to-death formula since the beginning of time and ironically, it’s the main thing this story actually manages to get right. Ember and Wade’s dynamic as characters on their own and the relationship they share throughout the film was gentle and also humane. Not only is it strengthened by the vocal performances but the way they grow to and apart from each other feels distinct and makes their portrayals understood and likable. It’s like a dash of Romeo and Juliet with a touch of Guess Who’s Coming To Dinner.
As someone who values character progression in stories like this, their genuine care and love for one another made me REALLY buy into both their personalities and positioning in the story (as troublesome as that became at certain points) and the overt metaphors surrounding their cross-cultural relationship in comparison to many others seems to fit the segregated, discriminatory allegory that the film does a surprisingly good job at making it easy to grasp. It’s about as subtle as a Triple H sledgehammer shot to the back of the head but it makes its point known and it doesn’t drown out its own selling point since the story is semi-built around it.
Of course that only goes so far when the premise behind said story feels like it’s merely scratching the surface. Pixar is really known for 'pushing it' with what they do with their movies, so seeing another generic ‘Learning to accept each other' premise from a company as beloved like Pixar is... offsetting, to put it mildly. There is nothing wrong with going back to basics, especially considering the disappointment of their recent run but everything about its conventional presentation never stretches beyond the straightforwardness and banality of its love story. When you consider its other themes like the hardships of leaving hometown, the regret of not receiving recognition from elders, the burden of inheriting a family business, the struggle to find oneself, and the sparks of romance across factions, they all were cobbled together in a manner that felt occasionally clumsy and/or fragile.
The most common complaint people have towards this movie is how underutilized the rest of the world feels and how similar to Onward, it takes a backseat to a narrative thread-line that isn’t nearly as interesting……and I’d have to agree. Sure; in comparison to Onward, this movies use of fanatical and contemporary environments are more pleasing to the eye and actually compliment each other better so it feels more active but it still barely feels as if we got a true sense of how the city really operates or how it’s inhabitants connect with one another. Thus, the us vs them mentality that’s alluded to feels second rate most of the time.
Characters in general outside of Ember and Wade feel like they’ve been given the short end of the stick, the film leans more INTO the stereotypes of the genre rather than move away from them, comedy wasn’t nearly as funny as I was lead to believe and on top of that, the dialogue comes across as utterly simplistic. Like “designed specifically just for kids” simplistic.
It really hurts seeing Pixar struggling to hit their stride as of late; between being constantly chained up by Disney and their most recent outings not doing as well, it only makes the more mediocre outings stand out all the more. And while Elemental is far from mediocre, in contrast to their own masterpieces, it’s a tale that won’t be nearly as remembered.
I am however glad the film was able to rebound from its disastrous opening at the box office and work its way into people’s hearts; they really deserve a break.
