"Elemental" is the 27th CGI animated feature film from Disney Pixar. Directed by Peter Sohn and featuring the voices of Leah Lewis and Mamoudou Athie, it plays things relatively straight-forward in a nice little love story complimented by the usual fantastic visuals from the studio.
In Elemental City, fire element immigrants Bernie and Cinder Lumen run a convenience store where they face frequent discrimination from all the other local elements. The couple's young daughter Ember dreams of one day running the store after her father retires, but has a difficult time controlling her temper. While dealing with multiple customers one morning, Ember quickly becomes overwhelmed and retreats into the basement to vent her frustrations, resulting in her accidentally breaking the water pipes. The ensuing flooding then causes the appearance of Wade Ripple, a water elemental health inspector who threatens to close the store down due to the insufficient plumbing. After some disagreements, both Ember and Wade start to realise that in spite of their contrasting elemental types, they may not be so different from each other as their society would have them believe.
Pixar have had a long tradition of making films that personify things that wouldn't normally have a voice to begin with and turning it into something highly relatable. For instance, "Toy Story" made us believe that inanimate toys were capable of fearing the inevitability of being replaced while "Inside Out" helped us realise that our emotions and subsequent responses shape our outlook on life based on the lessons we learn from them. Because of this approach, Pixar films have been able to cross boundaries to appeal to virtually everybody, which is what I believe to be one of the key reasons why they still reign supreme today. In the studio's latest film "Elemental", we are shown a world where the elements are segregated by their opposing types told through the plot of a forbidden romance. Watch Elemental movie only on the Afdah website.
From the perspective of the fire elemental Lumen family, we see that their kind are treated with notable hostility in comparison to every other elemental type. Due to fire's tendency to burn and destroy, whether intentional or not, the water, earth, and wind elements all live in fear of what they are capable of, and as a result, are reluctant to allow them to mingle with the rest of the city's population. This film's overarching theme of xenophobia and racial prejudice makes for an interesting look at how people in the real world may view immigrants from another country. Though I appreciate the filmmakers for tackling such a serious subject matter in a way that all ages can understand, something like this has already been done before in another non-Pixar animated film. The 2016 film "Zootopia" also dealt with themes of cultural differences in a more appealing way, whereas here it is used as a mere backdrop for setting up Ember and Wade's love affair. While I wouldn't necessarily call this is a bad thing, it doesn't really feel fresh or new.
At this point, it seems redundant to once again praise Pixar for the quality of their animation but every time I watch their latest movie, I still end up being blown away. I loved how beautiful and colourful the Elemental City looked, a place where anthropomorphic elements live and work. The attention-to-detail on the atmosphere is superb, which really helps make the city look like it has been lived in for a long time. We are treated to some creatively built apartment blocks that house the water elements and an aerial basketball stadium where wind elements slam dunk a ball using air currents. All of the world building is handled very nicely, but what stood out to me was how it is shown that fire elements are not welcome in almost every building. Signs saying "No Fire" are placed outside large venues and water security guards patrol residential areas in hopes that the occupants can live safely. The juxtaposition of this great big city in a prejudice-based society reminded me of how it was during Apartheid era South Africa and pre-civil rights America. These parallels are a rather bleak addition to the film's plot, but it feels like it is only half addressed in favour of the romance between the two main characters. Then again, there is only so much you can divulge about bigotry in a family film before you alienate the younger demographic too much.
I also really liked both of the lead characters, with Leah Lewis injecting the essential amount of energy into her performance as Ember. What I enjoyed about Ember was her vulnerability, in that while she is talented at what she does, it is her insecurities that are holding her back from greatness. After seeing both of her parents treated intolerably by the other elemental types, Ember believes she is doomed to the same fate as them, viewed as an object of ridicule by those who don't understand her culture. Her feelings of inadequacy manifest in the form of her explosive temperament, something that does nothing but exacerbate her family's inability to be accepted by others. Nonetheless, her fiery personality also includes a level of boldness to her character, in that she is not afraid to speak up for what she believes in.
In stark contrast to Ember, we see the total opposite in Wade, who is easily reduced to tears over even the most minor of issues. Mamoudou Athie plays into Wade's vulnerability differently to Ember's, in that his emotional interactions with those around him are simply a product of what it is like to be a water element. It is established that Wade's other family members become sentimental at the drop of a hat as well, which is shown prominently when he plays a party game that involves making somebody cry within a set amount of time. Wade's patient, sympathetic view of those around him is a nice counter to Ember's anxious, feisty nature, making their relationship so much more believable. Though the eventual outcome is pretty predictable, I still enjoyed watching how close Ember and Wade grew throughout the film.
For the longtime Pixar fan, "Elemental" may not rank among the studio's all time best but it still has plenty to enjoy regardless of how you approach it. You can appreciate it simply on the merits of its great animation or for its social commentary on cultural divide. Although it doesn't really say anything that hasn't been said before, it at least finds a way to say it in a manner that only Pixar films could, and that definitely counts for something. I can only imagine what Pixar will personify next, but I'm certain they'll find something worthwhile and make it work.