THE FILM
TITLE: Elemental
RELEASE DATE: 27 May 2023
WATCH DATE: 26 Jun 2023
... and so many times since then... it's one of my 2yo's favorite movies
TYPE: animated feature-film
ACCESS: drive-in movie theater, now streaming on Disney+
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THE PEOPLE
DIRECTOR: Peter Sohn
PRODUCER: Denise Ream McKenna, Jean Harris, Pete Docter
ACTORS: Leah Lewis, Mamoudou Athie, Ronnie del Carmen, Shila Ommi
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THE STORY
RUNTIME: 1h 41m
STORYLINE: a fiery young woman clashes with an emotional, go-with-the-flow dude while she tries to make her father proud and fulfill his dream for her to take over his shop
GENRE/THEMES: romance, fantasy, family, relationships
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THE CRITIQUE
THIS REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS
A creative and sentimental, but generally safe Pixar film. It didn’t take any risks and used many of the heartfelt story and character concepts we’ve seen in movies before. It still felt original, in that it wasn’t a sequel to a previous Pixar film, much like the originality of Onward. Something new from Pixar instead of another installment to Toy Story.
Elemental is conceptually brilliant, echoing Zootopia, and creative in its world-building aspect. It is a fantastic idea, to use the natural elements to build this fantasy world. Although, where Zootopia succeeded in world-building, Elemental fell a bit short. We only saw Fire and Water well represented. We get a little bit of Air during the airball game scene, but there's little to nothing about Earth besides a couple of small side characters. There was a massive potential in the concept that was only halfway explored, and making a sequel to make up for it would be a cheap way to solve that.
The strongest points were in Ember’s family past, and how the theme established in that flashback scene where her parents left Fireland was revisited in the final scene of the film. This animated film represents and explores different cultures quite well. We don't see a lot of Indian influence in American film, and it was exciting to see something new. Despite being a story about extremes and opposites, Elemental is filled with relatable characters and moments. These aspects of culture and family are moving to say the least. Much of the audience is bound to identify with Ember and her relationship with her parents or relate to her parents' life and relationship to their daughter.
Between the characters, the storyline, and the world-building, Elemental didn't take a lot of risks in its storytelling (where Zootopia and The Good Dinosaur for example did), so its nothing incredible. Nevertheless, a good, solid film - perfect for family movie night. It is refreshing to see something original from Pixar, not just a sequel from another one of their movies. Elemental is vibrant and an instant family favorite.
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THE RECEPTION
NOMINATIONS
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THE IMPRESSION
IN A SINGLE WORD: touching
MOST STRIKING ELEMENT: characters
REWATCH: yes
RATING: 3.5 // 5 stars ⭐⭐⭐⭐
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