Pixar’s new film Elemental treads familiar narrative and thematic ground, with a likable but forgettable love story and the expected lessons about acceptance, family and forging your own path. But visually, Elemental is a reminder that few, if any, studios rival Pixar’s commitment to advancing and experimenting with animation. After nearly three years of direct-to-streaming releases, followed by the theatrical disappointment of last year’s Lightyear, it’s a return to creative form, best enjoyed on the biggest screen possible.
The film takes place in the world of elements – water, air, earth, and fire – in the metropolis of Element City. Here, water people slosh around and live in high-rises made out of glass. Clods of dirt run around the city, proudly sprouting grass and flowers. Clouds thrill others with their sports prowess. And fire people are largely relegated to their own neighborhood, as others fear their destructive capabilities.
The story is centered on Ember (Leah Lewis), the daughter of immigrants from Fireland. She helps run her parents’ shop, which her father (Ronne del Carmen) has promised to her if she can control her temper with customers. When one of Ember’s outbursts puts the family business at risk, she teams with a sensitive but slightly dim water person named Wade (Mamoudou Athie) to navigate the city’s bureaucracy. Along the way, Ember not only discovers a gift that could conflict with her family’s plans for her life, but a steamy connection with Wade that goes against society’s belief that elements don’t mix.
It’s best not to think too much about the world of Elemental, which suggests that elements just mill about without any connection to the real world in which we live. Its rules and physics are about as squishy as Wade’s body; sometimes, Ember will burn whatever surface she touches. Others, she handles objects without much problem. Wade appears to merge with (non-sentient) water to shift his shape and size, and other times, he’s stuck in rooms or trying to hold back rushing waves. The world of Elemental doesn’t make much sense, aside from a vehicle for many, many element-related puns (most of them clever).
But while the world might be muddy, it gives director Peter Sohn and his animators free reign to create one of the most visually breathtaking movies in the Pixar library. There’s a sense of joy and freedom to the way the water and fire people change their shapes and sizes, their bodies are an unending movement of color and texture. I particularly like the way the film experiments with facial features on Ember and the other fire people, using a design that looks almost hand-drawn, and the film has a lot of fun with its movement and chase sequences, in which characters can squish themselves down between the bricks of buildings.
Element City will suffer from comparisons to Zootopia, but it’s a gorgeous creation, tactile and real without sacrificing imagination. The high-class apartments of the water people shimmer and shine with cool blues and glass surfaces, while the fire neighborhood has the cozy, cobbled-together feel of a tightly knit immigrant community. The film is constantly unveiling new visual surprises, and it’s a joy just to let the images wash over you (it’s especially so in 3D).
As for its story, Elemental often feels a bit much like Pixar’s greatest hits. There’s the mismatched buddy comedy, a road trip, and lessons about honoring family and charting one’s own path, all of which are studio staples. The film’s racial and cultural metaphors feel pulled from Zootopia – and are, admittedly, even a bit shakier here – and the personification of non-living items that are then placed in a world teeming with puns has been Pixar’s bread and butter since Toy Story. For all its visual ingenuity, it feels safe for a studio once known for pushing creative boundaries.
And yet, familiarity isn’t necessarily a knock. Yes, Elemental is pulled right out of the studio’s playbook, a mishmash of Inside Out, Soul, and Monster’s Inc. and countless films about acceptance and growth. But it’s sweet, enjoyable and funny, and its immigrant story has moments of resonance. I appreciate that it doesn’t rely on big-name voices (Catherine O’Hara as Wade’s mom is as big as it gets), and the actors create actual characters instead of relying on established personas. Lewis is particularly good as Ember, torn between honoring her parents and striking her own path, while balancing a fiery temper. And while Wade is a bit too one-dimensional for the central romance to feel novel, the scenes in which he and Ember find themselves falling for each other are beautifully rendered and some of Pixar’s most breathtaking and romantic imagery since the dance sequence in WALL-E.
The elements for greatness are present in Elemental, but the story plays it a bit too safe and overpacks the story for it to feel totally noteworthy. But as a visual display, it’s a reminder that few studios do this better than Pixar.
