Film: Elemental

 

GENRE: Animated
RATING: PG for thematic elements and brief language
RUNTIME: 1 hour and 49 minutes
PLATFORM: Movie Theatre
STARRING: Leah Lewis (Nancy Drew); Ronnie De Carmen (Soul)
Mamoudou Athie (Jurassic World Domination; The Circle)
DIRECTOR: Peter Sohn (The Good Dinosaur; Partly Cloudy -short)
WRITERS: John Hoberg & Kat Likkel (My Name is Earl, Galavant)
Brenda Hsueh (How I Met Your Mother; Disjointed)
PLOT: In a city where fire, water, land and air live, Ember and Wade find each other and try to save a small business.

FULL DISCLOSURE: I’m a big fan of Pixar. Didn’t know much about this.

STORY STUFF: I like it when Pixar thinks outside the box. Sure I love their look at toys, bugs, fish, cars, etc. but there is a special creativity that goes behind films like this and Inside Out. While this films delves into issues like racism, immigration and small business red tape, there is a love story at the heart of this film. Nothing will compare to the romance in Wall-E but I was still captivated by fiery Ember and watery Wade.  I do get frustrated when a character could solve all their problems by speaking their mind yet they refuse to do so. On the opposite side of that, I found it incredibly clever and groundbreaking that the male, being watery, is transparent both physically and emotionally. Can’t think of a film where the male in a relationship shares all his hopes, dreams and feelings so openly and unashamedly. So refreshing (pun intended).

ACTING STUFF: Other than Catherine O’Hara (Schitt’s Creek) as Wade’s mom and Wendi McLendon-Covey (The Goldbergs) as a cloud boss, I did not recognize any other voices. Not that that should make or break a Pixar film; it just surprised me. Lewis and Athie do a great job. I miss John Ratzenberger making a cameo though.

ARTISTIC STUFF: I just love the creativity that is poured into this film. There are so many clever things going on in the background, I feel I will get even more the second time around. I did love the stadium wave and the way that the water people boil when Ember walks by. Lots of great stuff. The animation didn’t blow me away though, it’s hard to after watching the new Spider-Man.   

VERDICT: Four stars out of five
SEE IT IF: You like Pixar and enjoy clever things and romance.=
UPCOMING REVIEW:  Asteroid City; The Flash; Indiana Jones 5