Plot: What’s it about?
Elemental is the latest offering from Pixar, and while not one of their greatest efforts, it still is an enjoyable time. I remember seeing the neat trailers and couldn’t wait to see how things would play out. While it’s a fun and entertaining film, it’s also one that has a maturity to it that isn’t always present in animated features. Above many things, it’s simply a pleasure to look at. The colorful animation always gives us something pleasing to our eyes.
We have characters who are literally fire and water as the main characters who live in Element City. We see early on that Bernie (Ronnie del Carmen) and his wife, Cinder (Shila Ommi) arrive in Element City with the hopes of starting a new life. There’s some funny early stuff with none of the elements wanting them to live with them so as not to be burned or set on fire. And so, they finally settle on Fire City. They start their own business, and have a child named Ember (Leah Lewis) and her father has high hopes that she will take over the business one day. We learn that he gives his daughter several tries and reminds her that when she is ready to take over it will come. Unfortunately, Ember loses her temper a lot, especially when there’s a customer who tests her patience. I like the element (get it?) where she is literally fire and needs to keep her cool and not lose control. Her outbursts eventually cause the pipes to burst in the shop and this is where Wade (Mamoudou Athie) enters the picture. He is an inspector, and he is made of water. Wade finds issues with the pipes and feels an obligation to report it. Obviously, if this happens then Ember and her family will lose their business. There’s a fun sequence where Ember chases Wade through Element City to stop him from submitting the ticket. He is successful but becomes empathetic when Ember explains her situation to him. He urges her to go and contest the ticket, and this leads to Ember and Wade spending more time together. Since one is fire and one is water, this causes issues because the two simply can’t mix. But Ember is guarded and knows that fire needs to stay with fire and her priorities are with her family and protecting their store.
Elemental took me by surprise not just by how much I enjoyed it, but also the story and having its heart in the right place. The plot can take something of a backseat to the central romantic angle which is carried throughout the film. Honestly, there may be a tad too much going on with the central premise. It is not confusing necessarily but sometimes a lesser approach might’ve helped. Still, it remained a fun and fast paced flick that should satisfy not just the target audiences but adults too. I was reminded a bit of Cars in how everyday terminology for us is part of their world and how they interact or not interact with or who to engage or not engage with. It isn’t hard to see the comparisons to a real-life scenario where certain cultures only know how to stick to their own and not branch out. It is never heavy in that message, but it’s present.
The Bottom Line
While it may not be remembered as the best Pixar outing, it was still effective and a whole lot of fun. Parts of the story may be familiar, but it was nice seeing an animated feature try something different. There’s a lot of fun here from an outside perspective viewing this world and how the characters go about their daily lives. The voice work is strong, the animation is gorgeous to look at and the story is effective. Check it out.
