Pixar has long been at the top of the mountain when it comes to animated movies. In a way no other studio (except maybe Studio Ghibli) can compete with, they have the uncanny ability to make kid-friendly movies that appeal equally to adults. Part of that magic is being able to take deep, intense themes and simplify them without losing the power of the messaging. Toy Story, Inside Out, Soul, just to name a few. The studio seemed similarly setup for another such hit with Elemental, their latest release. Unfortunately it doesn’t reach the highs of some of Pixar’s best offerings, but it’s still a worthy entry for the studio.
Elemental takes place in Element City, with fire, water, land, and air residents reside together. While the water, land, and air citizens coexist rather easily and peacefully, the fire citizens find themselves somewhat on the outs, especially with the water residents. It starts with a brief prologue, showing Bernie and Cinder Lumen immigrating to Element city. The other elements see the fire residents as a potential threat, so not feeling welcome, the Lumens settle in Fire Town. Bernie and Cinder start a general store, called The Fireplace, and build a new life for themselves, including the birth of their daughter, Ember. As the years go by, Ember grows to love working at the store with her parents, looking forward to the day when her father will pass it on to her.
One day, a water main leaks into The Fireplace’s basement. With the leak, the water also sucks through the pipes city inspector Wade Ripple. He meets and quickly clashes with Ember. Just trying to do his job, he finds several city code violations, which could result in the city shutting down The Fireplace. However, Ember and Wade soon become friends, and work together to help save The Fireplace.
As Ember and Wade’s friendship grows, it could be blossoming into something more. And as they grow closer, Ember starts to question whether taking over the store is what she actually wants for herself. Is that what will make her happy? Or does she feel a duty to her father to carry on, even if it means pushing her dreams and ambitions aside?
Elemental has pieces of three potentially great movies. The romantic comedy with Ember and Wade, the father-daughter story with Ember and Bernie, and the “different people from different cultures can learn to live together and become friends” story. Any one of those would make a worthy story on its own. Combining elements of two of them could also work just as well. But trying to take on all three is where Elemental struggles the most.
Each of the three gets mostly surface-level treatment, with obvious and predictable plotting. They all get the start to promising developments, but there’s simply not enough time in the movie to devote to satisfying full arcs for each of them. They all have their moments, sure, but there was serious meat left on the bones here. The Bernie-Ember plot works the best, getting the most touching and emotional moments.
But even with Elemental not going as deep as you might expect from a Pixar movie like this, at least what we do get is done well. The familiar beats hit well enough. And if the movie isn’t going to go for more than that, this is what it has to do to have a chance at success.
Also helping Elemental are some of the usual Pixar staples. The voice acting is terrific. It’s gorgeously animated, with the whole creative team clearly having loads of fun living in this world. So much of the movie takes place in Fire Town, but it’s in the main Element City where the animation really comes to life. I wish they could have found a way to spend a little more time there. And Thomas Newman provides an excellent score, as expected.
Elemental is unlikely to blow you away, and is far from top tier Pixar. But not everything has to to be the next Toy Story or The Incredibles or Finding Nemo. I wish it had taken a few more risks with the storytelling, rather than playing it safe and not really going for anything. But there’s still a good chance you’ll get pulled in by at least one of the main plot lines, which should provide, at a minimum, a satisfactory emotional payoff. It’s not great, but it will do.
Score: 77/100
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