Alright! Today I'm reviewing Pixar's 27th and latest film Elemental, which is about a world populated by the four natural elements - fire, earth, wind, and air - and how true love transcended cultural barriers, economic status, and physical touch to bring fire girl Ember and water boy Wade together as they navigate through a simple but timely metaphor about racism, classism, immigration, and generational trauma.
The best thing about Elemental is the instantly likable leads. Pixar has never really done a romcom before, and while the movie is lacking on both rom and com, the chemistry is definitely there. Both fit stereotypical archetypes that make their pairing all the more cute in a date night-friendly way. The animation for both is fantastic as well, especially when the loss of physical touch between them plays a pivotal role in the movie. You might even say they set their relationship to broil...
Speaking of which, the animation is gorgeous as a rule of thumb. While it's not as innovative or distinct as some of this summer's other releases (Across the Spider-Verse, Mutant Mayhem), it is beautiful in its own right and undoubtedly technically impressive. Water is notoriously hard to animate, and having one of your leads be Waterboy was undoubtedly expensive and a challenge that only Pixar could rise to the occasion for.
However, everything else was average to mixed at best. The pacing felt not only rushed but also a bit long; it's the millionth generational trauma immigrant story we've seen this decade; the immigration metaphor is poorly done when the Fire folks are blatant Asiatic stand-ins; it lacks an ending that makes you think; and it's occasionally profound while also being bumblingly clunky.
Like most of Pixar's recent movies (Turning Red, Soul), Elemental is a technical spectacular, but it bears the same in-house animation style Pixar's been using for the better part of a decade. Additionally, as far as acceptable-but-not-special Pixar movies go, it's on the average side of things. Each one technically breaks new ground for Pixar - Turning Red was average average, Lightyear was disappointing average, Soul was thoughtful average, and Onward was fun average - but Elemental's ambitions aren't as grand as Soul's, nor are they as fun as Onward's. It's not disappointing, nor is it average - it is ever so slightly above average, barely over the line, enough to stick around in your head (And make for an impressive sleeper hit), but not to rewatch.
Elemental is not going to be anyone's favorite Pixar movie, nor will it be anyone's favorite animated film of '23. However, it's likable enough with its occasionally romantic plot, brilliant animation (The glass blowing was beautiful), and surprisingly sparse but funny gags. For all the hopeless romantics out there I imagine it will be quite impactful; for everyone else, amiable. It's not a movie you'll regret watching, but it just might be a movie you forget you watched.
Overall, I give Elemental a 7/10. "Good is not the opposite of great, but it's not a synonym either."
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| See you next year for Elio |
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