Anthony's Film Review - Elemental (2023)

Pixar's effort to anthropomorphize the four elements results in a decent animated film...

Elemental is another opportunity for Pixar to give life and human qualities to nonhuman objects. We've seen living toys in Toy Story, talking insects in A Bug's Life, talking marine animals in Finding Nemo, living cars in Cars, and talking dinosaurs in The Good Dinosaur. Now, Pixar gives life to the elements of air, earth, fire, and water. Imagine a place called Element City where creatures made of those elements live, alongside each other though mostly separately. The trailer for the film shows some promise, by presenting the neat ways that elemental creatures behave and respond to collisions with other elements.

For this review, I will first talk about my two minor criticisms of the movie, then go into what I like about it.

First off, I was expecting the movie to show us the whole world of Elemental City. I was hoping to see main characters representing each of the four elements and plenty of moments illustrating the different combinations of element interactions. Instead, the focus is really on two main characters of fire and water, with one segment showcasing several air characters at once and minimal screen time for earth characters. I might forgive Pixar if there are plans to make follow-up Elemental movies with new characters, but for now, I'm noting this unequal focus of the elements.

In addition, the first 20 minutes or so felt like a movie that was struggling to identify itself. It didn't feel too much like a Pixar movie as we know it. For one thing, the pacing of the narrative felt quicker than average. It also catered a little too much to the adults of the audience, with moments that mirror serious real-life issues such as immigration and xenophobia. I found myself wondering if this movie would breeze by so quickly that it's over without much of a story to look back on. Thankfully, things picked up after a while.

So now, onto the good stuff. The main character of Elemental is a young woman of fire named Ember. She is the daughter of a fire family that moved to Element City to start a new life. Her family owns and runs a shop selling food and supplies, mainly for other fire beings. In fact, they reside in the section of Element City known as Firetown. Ember is destined to inherit the shop from her father. However, her explosive temper causes problems, including one that could spell disaster for her and the shop.

This is where a water guy named Wade comes in. He works for Element City as an inspector, and his first encounter with Ember is tense. Ember is now desperate to do whatever it takes to end the predicament that she is in. Wade, while not abandoning his duty to the city, does have enough sympathy to try to help her. Eventually, Ember and Wade work together to solve a particular problem plaguing Element City, because successfully doing so would benefit both of them.

But that's not the heart of the story. This is ultimately a love story about two characters from different worlds. It does, in my opinion, develop nicely over the second half. Now, it's not anywhere as great as the love story of two robots in WALL-E, because the pacing is still somewhat quick, but it's something. And I did leave the movie smiling a little. Pixar hasn't completely lost its touch yet.

So that's that. Elemental is a decent animated film from Pixar and Disney. It may be partly cold and partly hot, but it does become heartwarming by the end.

Anthony's Rating:

For more information about Elemental, visit the Internet Movie Database.