Cut to the chase: In typical Pixar fashion, “Elemental” brings it back to the basics, hitting viewers straight in the chest with its innovative animation and a deeper message about love and acceptance. All that aside, however, “Elemental” features a slower-paced story that many viewers will wish burned a more memorable mark in our memory.
H2O Romeo and blazing Juliet
Not since “A Bug’s Life”, which was inspired by Aesop’s fable “The Ant and the Grasshopper”, has a Pixar film pulled from an immediately identifiable piece of literature. “Elemental”, the latest from the animation studio Goliath, breaks its long-running tradition with a romantic comedy based on William Shakespeare’s “Romeo and Juliet”. It’s been told and retold for centuries in so many different mediums, but the bare bones of the story remain relevant and relatable, even when set in a fictional world where the Capulets and Montagues are replaced with the elements – fire, water, earth, wind – who attempt to co-exist with one another in spite of their basic, elemental differences.
If you are catching the “elemental” double entendre, then you’ll know that the elements won’t mix, and our brave leads will be forced to change cynical, set-in-stone (not literally) minds. It’s a sweet premise, one that carries the film for a short time before it begins to feel like the forward motion of its alluring imagery is not enough to keep its heavy, handsome head above water. The irresistible animation, whose texture jumps off the screen and has the power to make you worried that you, too, will be burned alive or drowned in the flood, does not negate, nor camouflage a weak narrative. If “Elemental” suffers from one major pitfall, it is a story too elementary for even moderate Pixar fans.
Get your water out of my fire
An added layer to this universal tale is the immigrant element, which brings in mature concepts on a digestible, metaphorical plane. The metropolis where the film is set consists of pre-ordained social classes is based purely on their elemental make-up. The fire neighborhood, which operates like a minority ghetto found in any number of large cities, is warm (pun intended), quiet and homey, but quite notably kept separate from the green, bustling, wet cityscape belonging to water, wind and earth.
Bernie (Ronnie Del Carmen) and Cinder Lumen (Shila Ommi) migrate to Element City from their ancestral land of fire, pushed out by a vague, but urgent need to leave and reestablish themselves in a land with greater promise and opportunity. (Squint and you’ll see fragments of NYC’s historically vibrant and culturally diverse haven for newcomers.) The segregation of elements, mainly of fire who has a much harder time living alongside the more fragile elements like earth is also a story as old as the history books. Adults in particular will appreciate this astute undercurrent of universal truth that rivals Aesop’s own fables. Each element is given their specific and identifiable culture.
Bernie and Cinder, who speak with thick Middle Eastern accents and who have brought with them traditions that seem to have the same spiritual roots from that part of the world, are the newest batch of immigrants to the city. Their struggle to thrive is a particularly American account. It’s a snapshot of one family who has to overcome prejudice and cultural differences to make it in a new world. After the birth of their daughter Ember (Leah Lewis), the Lumen family works hard to succeed as shopkeepers. “The Fireplace”, which sells fire-specific foods and items, is a success, and their small corner of Element City grows under their hard work.
Like most first-generation children, Ember struggles with her parent’s single-minded view of her future. She has a talent for shaping glass but feels pigeonholed into sales, despite her lack of patience for customers. When a mysterious leak floods the basement of the Fireplace with *gasp* water, Ember meets city inspector and sensitive H2O hunk Wade Ripple (Mamoudou Athie). The unlikely duo must find the source of the leak, fix the problem and appease both her parents and his boss – a loud, confident, intimidating cloud of air named Gale (Wendi McLendon-Covey) – before the merging of elements proves to be a certain demise for all.
Fluid, shiny, but inert
If there is one reason to see “Elemental”, it is for the staggering animation. Director Peter Sohn, a longtime Pixar animator and storyboard artist who made his directorial feature debut with 2015’s “The Good Dinosaur”, brings to staggering life such impossibly charming characters who burst with personality and who look not just dynamic, but… real. The Lumens flicker, radiate and pulse with spritely licks of fire. Wade and his WASP-y family, including mother Brook (Catherine O’Hara with arguably the film’s most comical voiceover performance) cry perpetual tears about mundane occurrences. Wade’s hair, with its kinetic wave, should have an acting credit of its own. The film particularly shines when the different elements interact with one another, showcasing all that Sohn and his team have accomplished.
Where “Elemental” loses viewers is halfway through when it becomes apparent that the Shakespearean tragedy is the bigger plot point than the cracked dam. And that the treatment of the fire people, as well as inter-element relations in general, won’t be addressed explicitly. “Elemental” strove to tell an immigrant story to children, and it did so without going for the bigger, harder punch to the gut and zap to the heart. Not every film will light that fire, but you can easily ride this wave for a breezy trip to the movies with your undiscerning viewer.
Know before you go
MPAA Rating: PG for some peril, thematic elements and brief language
Recommended Age: 6+
Runtime: 103 minutes
Nightmare Inducers: This is a nightmare-free film, in terms of graphic, child-scarring imagery. My three-year-old sat blissfully through the entire film without so much as a yelp. There is no black-and-white villain. Or villain of any color, for that matter. Ember struggles with her parents’ overbearing dictation of her life, but they are notably kind to and eventually supportive of their daughter. There are some pretty epic scenes that involve mortal peril; the leads just barely escape with their lives after evaporating or being nearly extinguished. But even these sequences are nothing that should send young children screaming from the theater.
Difficult Concepts or Emotions: As mentioned previously, there are lessons to be learned and some difficult conversations to be had about acceptance, diversity and certain privileges. Naturally, the caste system within Element City and the mistreatment of the Fire population could be a discussion worth having. There are plenty of emotional topics (emigrating from one’s homeland, disappointing one’s ailing parents, et cetera), but none of them feel too big for small viewers.
