REVIEW: Pixar Tries Their Hand At Romance with ‘Elemental’
After 26 films, Disney and Pixar have finally released an animated romance with a touch of comedy with their newest movie, Elemental. Set in the fictional Element City, the elements of Element City, Fire, Water, Air, and Earth all co-exist, mostly peacefully. Two elements in particular, the fiery, short tempered Ember Lumen (voiced by Leah Lewis) and the watery, sensitive Wade Ripple (Mamoudou Athie) take center stage. These two couldn’t be any more different, both physically and mentally, but after they are forced to work together to save Ember’s father’s store, the two realize they have more in common than they thought. As sparks begin to fly, it is up to the two to see if they can overcome their so called “differences” and begin to explore the feelings they have for one another.
The Wow factor of this movie is the animation. Director Peter Sohn and the team of animators attached to this picture didn’t hold back with their animation, notably in how they brought to life the character animation. From Ember’s constantly flowing, changing, sometimes growing, flames to Wade’s ever flowing waterworks, the two leads were clearly carefully crafted to shed light on who they are. At times you’ll be entranced with the animation and just how they are making it work that you may just miss a line or two.
The story, however, isn’t as good. Instead of focusing on the love story of Ember and Wade, Sohn, who wrote the movie alongside John Hoberg, Kat Likkel, and Brenda Hsueh, added in another major plot. This additional storyline played a little too closely to Disney’s Zootopia, and isn’t nearly as well done. The film would benefit from focusing mainly on one storyline and the split results in neither plot being fully crafted. This confusion also led to back and forth emotions when it came to the movie’s lead, Ember. At times I really enjoyed the character, other times I kept asking myself why she was acting the way she was. The character wasn’t completely developed and this was mainly due to the differing focuses she was meant to balance.
Lewis and Athie were wonderful as the voices of Ember and Wade. Wendi McLendon-Covey and Catherine O’Hara, who lent their voices to Wade’s boss, Gale (McLendon-Covey) and Wade’s mom, Brook Ripple (O’Hara) respectively, were the highlights of the movie. There was also one character introduced in the movie that too closely resembled a character from Monsters University; Wade’s Uncle Harold (voiced by Ronobir Lahiri) looked almost exactly like Don Carlton. It felt as if they reused the animation from Monsters University for this movie.
Disney and Pixar’s Elemental isn’t going to break the box office or be the next big movie for the animation studios, but it’s a fun family movie. I don’t know if I would rush out to the theaters to see it, if you’re looking for entertainment for the whole bunch, this is for you. I would definitely recommend at least checking it out when it is released to Disney+ later this year.
Grade: B-