Pixar have long been the royal standard when it comes to profound, visually magnificent animated movies. To be fair, when the little ‘Pixar’ desk lamp appears at the start of a movie, you still feel an air of prestige filling the room. Now, though, there are a lot of new, young guns coming to the forefront that are almost overshadowing the once-pinnacle of animated entertainment. That’s not to say that Pixar is in danger of going under any time soon – far from it – but they certainly better watch their backs before they become an old-fashioned thing of the past.
Elemental is the studio’s latest attempt at generating a family film with a strong message. Taking place in a city where the four elements live together yet separately, the fiery Ember meets watery Wade in a whirlwind of a friendship. Though Ember’s parents are concerned, the pair of them continue to see each other when they discover that they share more in common than anyone would have thought.
Okay, so this movie is not as bad as some reviews want it to be. But no, it’s certainly not one of Pixar’s best… which you may have gathered from my introduction to this review. But why is that?
Firstly, I have to say that I do appreciate Disney/Pixar trying to go for something a little different aesthetically with this one. With competition emerging from the likes of Lord & Miller and Cartoon Saloon, it was about time these giants stepped up to the plate in order to spice up its visuals, and Elemental sees some experimental animation come to the forefront. I mean, you can kind of see that from the images in this post alone.
What doesn’t quite thrill as much as the majority of Pixar’s catalogue is the plot. It’s a huge weight to burden when you have previous films like Inside Out and Coco to contend with; both of which have original and deeply meaningful storylines, especially for animated movies. Sadly, this one doesn’t hit those heights, despite there being attempts to cover topics such as racial inequality, immigration and generational trauma all at once. Basically, it has a lot to live up to but doesn’t quite get there, and it all ends up feeling a little too ‘try-hard’ as a result.
Question marks surrounding plot aside, it’s not bad. There are a bunch of funny moments – which you’d expect – and some of the characters are almost unbearably loveable. Cinder Lumen (the main character’s mother) is perhaps the best of all, although Catherine O’Hara making an appearance as Brook Ripple (another mother) is always welcome. Proof that O’Hara elevates anything she chooses to appear in.
What I’m saying is, Elemental isn’t as life-changing and well-rounded as many of Pixar’s other films. However, it’s still better than a high volume of Dreamworks movies so… Pixar‘s worst is technically still decent.
Elemental is currently screening at most cinemas in the UK.
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