“Nowadays, one anticipates each new Pixar feature with the hope and perhaps unfair expectation that they recapture their glory days.”
Pixar on its game is probably the best animation studio in the world. I was lucky enough to grow up with its movies and to be at the perfect age when the gems Ratatouille, Wall-E and Up were released one year after the other. Nowadays, one anticipates each new Pixar feature with the hope and perhaps unfair expectation that they recapture their glory days.
Elemental, their latest offering, depicts an alternate reality which is populated by beings made of earth, wind, water, and fire – the four elements identified by Ancient Greek philosopher Empedocles. These groups inhabit a metropolis not unlike New York City, and what we have is a clear metaphor for ethnic diversity. We are informed that “elements don’t mix”, and fire in particular experiences discrimination and is confined to a ghetto. Immigrants Bernie and Cinder, thus named at the city’s version of Ellis Island, set up a shop and work tirelessly to provide their daughter Ember with a better life. Fast forward several years and Ember is on the cusp of inheriting the family business, although she has difficulty controlling her temper and connecting with customers. On one especially stressful day, she accidentally explodes the water pipes which her father has amateurishly installed, and in flows Wade Ripple, a city inspector. Ember tries to prevent Wade from reporting the property, and an unlikely cross-cultural forbidden romance ensues.
“The film shows, like 2021’s The Mitchells vs. the Machines, that the father-daughter relationship is a rich seam to tap.”
Elemental is beautifully animated: take, for example, the sequence where minerals cause Ember’s flame to change colour. It is not only visually striking but also quite moving. Towards the end, there’s a moment reminiscent of that scene in Toy Story 3 in that the central characters face death in a way that is shocking for a children’s movie. The film shows, like 2021’s The Mitchells vs. the Machines, that the father-daughter relationship is a rich seam to tap. Ember, we discover, doesn’t truly want to take over her father’s shop – instead, she has an innate talent for sculpting glass – but she puts herself through a lot of suffering, and at one point even risks her life, in an attempt to stay true to her roots. The final scene in which father and daughter say goodbye left many in the audience in tears.
Elemental does have issues, the primary of which being its rather bland storytelling. As has been highlighted by numerous critics, the writing can feel as if it has been created by an AI algorithm. The romcom plot is predictable and safe (it is certainly not as daring as last year’s Turning Red, about a teenage girl undergoing her first period). The relationship between Ember and Wade is not developed enough for us to really care about their love, and the characterisation of the elements is superficial: water cries frequently, fire is feisty, etc. Finally, the representation of elements as different ethnicities, although accessible for kids, seemed to me somewhat problematic: for example, fire stands for the universal immigrant, be they Korean (like director Peter Sohn), Middle Eastern, or Jewish, whereas water is essentially only upper-class white.
Overall, Elemental is another enjoyable Pixar outing with many delightful moments. Mamoudou Athie’s performance as Wade is impressive, and the stadium scene featuring dance ‘choon’ “Kernkraft 400” (you’ll recognise it when you hear it – add it to your workout playlist) is definitely fun. Make sure you arrive on time to catch the funny and endearing Carl’s Date, a short film continuing the story of Up, with Carl the widower, Doug the hilarious dog, and composer Michael Giacchino’s immortal track “Married Life”. Elemental won’t linger in your mind like Up, but it’s a pleasant trip to the cinema for young and old.
WORDS: Michael Healion
