In Elemental, Ember Lumen is a fire element who lives with her parents, Bernie and Cinder, in Element City. All three Lumens work in the family store, The Fireplace, which has helped them to build a life together.
Over the years, Ember has worked hard to understand the intricacies of the store, and how to make a living. Her goal is to take over the business in the not-too-distant future, so her parents can retire in their old age.
But despite her skills behind the counter, there is something holding her back: Her temper. Ember is incredibly hot-headed, often toward the customers, and this is something her father needs her to overcome before he will hand over ownership of the store.
After much soul searching, Bernie decides that maybe all Ember really needs is the right opportunity to prove herself. So, the next day, he decides to sleep in, to allow Ember to open up the shop by herself, and demonstrate that she can remain in control of her temper, even when things get stressful.
However, within minutes of opening the store, Ember loses her cool and has to rush down to the basement to quite literally let off steam. But her angry outburst breaks one of the store’s waterpipes, which in turn sucks city inspector, Wade Ripple (a water element), through the pipe and into the basement.
Wade seems like a nice guy, but after taking a look at the basement, he notes various code violations, which he will need to report to his superiors. This worries Ember greatly, as this could have huge ramifications for her family’s business.
Concerned these violations will mean the closure of the store, Ember follows Wade back to his office, trying to convince him to change his mind. But will she be able to turn things around, and could this chance meeting between Ember and Wade lead to more than just code violations?
Directed by Peter Sohn, and featuring the voice talents of Leah Lewis and Mamoudou Athie, Elemental is the latest computer-animated movie from Disney-Pixar. The film is currently on general release in the US, but will arrive in UK cinemas from Friday 7th July.
As with every Pixar movie, Elemental boasts cutting edge animation, an excellent voice cast, plenty of humour, and a heartfelt and touching story. If you’re a fan of Pixar films, you’ll like what’s on offer here, and you should get something out of it.
However, while the film is another example of Pixar delivering the high standards we’ve all come to expect, Elemental isn’t up there with the best of ’em. There’s nothing particularly bad about the movie, but it does feel a little underwhelming.
I enjoyed Elemental for what it is, but I didn’t love it. For all the wonderful animation, and adult storytelling, at no point is it amazing.
Where I believe the film struggles, is in the sheer amount of material it attempts to chuck at the screen. There’s quite a lot going on in Elemental, arguably too much, and as such, it can’t quite decide what story it wants to tell.
In terms of its narrative, Elemental deals with Ember’s attempts to control her temper; her goal of keeping the store open; and a developing love story between Ember and Wade. In addition, there’s an ongoing thread about immigration; a few examples of institutional racism; and discussions about aging parents.
Running in the background of all this is an impending deadline connected to the store, as well as Ember’s desire to please her father. And then there is the introduction of Wade’s family, as well as a water-related finale.
To put it simply: This is a lot to cram into a 109-minute animated movie, and while all of the plot threads hold some value, there are too many threads dangling about to care. Some trimming here and there would help this picture greatly, to ensure the film has a tighter focus.
Most Pixar movies play out as allegories for something else, which is why they are often perceived as a cut above standard animated films. For example, Inside Out is an allegory for child mental health; Turning Red is an allegory for puberty; and the Toy Story films have plenty to say about growing up.
Yet, while Elemental does attempt to make use of allegories to follow suit with its predecessors, its most interesting messages about immigration and racism get lost in the mix, and this is a shame. Elemental juggles too many ideas and plot points for its own good, and somewhere between the start and the end the movie’s central messages become muddled.
Where Elemental is at its best, is when it is focusing on one idea. The movie’s most successful plot thread is its love story between Ember and Wade.
Throughout the film, the two characters get closer, despite being very different elements (she’s fire, he’s water), they begin to fall in love with each other, and this is all very delightful stuff. Their relationship builds to something special, with some touching scenes along the way, and this helps to ensure the finale pulls at the heartstrings.
The romance plot thread is lovely to watch, and is handled very well by director Peter Sohn. If there’s one thing audiences will take away from this picture, it is the romantic angle, which is carefully developed throughout the film.
The other thing which audiences will appreciate is the animation. Pixar always deliver in the animation department and this is no exception – Elemental is lovely to look at.
However, that said, while Elemental‘s visual aesthetic is gorgeous, it’s not the best-looking animated movie to be released this year. Puss in Boots: The Last Wish and Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse run rings around this picture when it comes to animation, even if all three movies do boast stunning visuals.
If it seems as if I am being very harsh on Elemental, please know this is not my intention, as I do like this film. To reiterate what I said earlier, there’s nothing particularly bad about Elemental and it will appeal to Pixar fans.
The issue is, Elemental is a middle-of-the-range movie, rather than something special. And while a middle-of-the-range Pixar film isn’t bad, some studios are upping their game when it comes to animated films, and this means Pixar needs to continually up its game too.
It’s worth noting that Elemental debuted in the US on Friday (opposite The Flash), where it had a disastrous opening weekend at the box office. The film performed very badly with US audiences, with film fans failing to show much interest.
I believe there are multiple reasons for Elemental‘s financial shortcomings, including a glut of films at the cinema right now (The Little Mermaid, Transformers: Rise of the Beasts, The Flash, Across the Spider-Verse, etc), which have taken the attention away from this film. It also doesn’t help that Disney has released most of the recent Pixar movies direct to Disney+, which has trained audiences to wait for the film to pop up on streaming, rather than go to the cinema to catch it.
However, I believe Elemental‘s key problem at the box office this weekend is that Pixar films are starting to get a little formulaic and audiences can see this. The studio is still producing high quality material, but so are other studios, and this means they are not currently the leader when it comes to animation and this is something which Disney needs to address.
But putting box office fortunes (or misfortunes) to one side for the moment, Elemental is likeable, and it does shine in multiple places. It doesn’t sit up there with the likes of Toy Story, Soul, or Luca, and it does suffer from a hodge-podge of ideas when one would have done, but it’s fine and even a mid-level Pixar film is better than most.
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Thank you for taking the time to read this review on It’s A Stampede!. For more reviews, check out the recommended reads below.
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