Directed by Peter Sohn, Elemental is set in Element City, a world inhabited by anthropomorphic elements of nature, where fire-, water-, land- and air-residents live together. The story follows Ember (Leah Lewis), a tough, quick-witted, and fiery fire elemental, whose friendship with a fun, sappy, go-with-the-flow water elemental named Wade (Mamoudou Athi) challenges her beliefs about the world they live in.
After what was considered a letdown with last year’s Lightyear, Pixar makes a proper return to the theaters with a new original film after being prevented from doing so for three years. Regardless of who was involved or what kind of story this film was going to be, I was just excited to see an original Pixar project back on the big screen. I went into Elemental hoping to walk out feeling happy and fulfilled as Pixar has made me feel in the past and that’s exactly what happened.
Elemental is another great Pixar film and one of the most wholesome films of this year for me personally. It’s not a top-tier Pixar film since it has some things I wish could have been explored further in greater detail but it’s still a very good film with a pleasing enough story that I was attached to and contains extremely creative and gorgeous animation that I adored completely. I found this to be very enjoyable and emotionally moving in various ways, making it a bit of a comfort film that can audiences feel warm and fuzzy inside.
To start off, it should come as no surprise that the animation is absolutely fantastic, oozing with beauty, fluidity, and creativity. Having anthropomorphic elements of nature as opposed to beings made of flesh and blood creates a great opportunity to go absolutely wild creating a unique world that utilizes the elements in various ways, which this film takes full advantage of and makes it look visually dazzling for all viewers. There’s a lot of great details this film has on display and it all looks so wonderful and vibrant in every possible way.
There are also a lot of oddly satisfying moments the animation offers up with certain abilities the elementals have, such as the Fire elementals ability of glassblowing. This may be a bit random but I find glassblowing to be extremely satisfying to watch, and the way they utilize it in this film is brilliant, not only in terms of how it looks in animation but how it works with the story and characters.
And speaking of characters there’s quite a number of them in this film, all having uniquely different designs and are given really great personalities by the voice cast. The main stand outs are of course the lead couple with Ember, voiced by Leah Lewis, and Wade, voiced by Mamoudou Athi. Their journey together as couple with a growing relationship might play some beats that we have seen before with other couples in other films, but I couldn’t help but love them for the charm each of them possesses, as well as the great performances they are given.
Mamoudou Athi is perfect as this lovable and super sensitive goof with a big heart, stepping away from the usual super-handsome guy trope. It makes this relationship between him and Ember feel focused more on personality and actions rather than looks, which to me is a great lesson to have in an animated film.
I did find Ember to be the more compelling character though, as her journey is the central focus of this film and one that I felt extremely attached to when we see just how much weight she’s carrying on her shoulders. Leah Lewis does a phenomenal job delivering emotional moments as the character in every scene she’s in, moments that are reflected through the character’s animation. I believe there are going to be a lot of people who will relate to her.
All the supporting characters are great as well, with some notable performances including Ronnie Del Carmen as Bernie Lumen, Ember’s father, and Wendi McLendon-Covey as Gale Cumulus, an air element with a big and hilarious personality. Prior to seeing this film, I saw that director Peter Sohn posted a letter describing why this film was so personal for him and how it reflects a lot of elements of his own life involving the struggles of a migrant family, feeling the intense call to honor his family, and the sacrifices that prevented him from being able to pursue his own dreams. From the very beginning of the film, I immediately understood what he was talking about. The story of Ember and her family establishes one of the central themes of the film that unfolds into a wholesomely powerful journey that I found myself incredibly attached to. It’s not often you see an animated film tackle the subject of immigration or at least do so in an appropriate way but this film absolutely nails it.
Some themes of prejudice and racism are also brought up a few times and while it is handled well I do wish it was explored much more in depth in a similar way to Zootopia. Instead, it takes a bit of a back seat while Ember’s story and the blooming relationship between her and Wade are at the forefront. There are definitely ways they could have integrated those themes into the story and made it feel more impactful. On top of that, there were a few parts of the film that felt fairly predictable unfortunately, which is a bit unusual from Pixar as they do manage to throw in some big surprises with their themes that really bring the film together, but this one didn’t have a big moment like that. There are plenty of cute and wholesome moments though that I do feel kind of made up for it, as well as one significant emotional moment regarding Ember’s story that feels significant to Peter Sohn’s personal life that I definitely found very compelling. I won’t say what the moment was due to spoilers but it was a beautiful one to cap off the film.
The score by Thomas Newman was remarkably great in this film, especially all the themes involving Ember and the fire district that had a clear cultural inspiration behind it. I’m not sure which specific culture it is inspired from but it felt extremely fitting for the character and the district. Newman has been involved with the scores of many incredible films so it comes as no surprise that the music in this film is solid.
Despite some missteps, I really enjoyed Elemental as a very wholesome film that I feel most people can watch and just feel welcomed into it. Every once in a while there’s one of these feel-good films that comes along, and while it may not appeal to everyone I think it will definitely appeal to many others. I’m going to give Elemental an A- = 93
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