Title: Elemental
Release Date: June 16, 2023
Director: Peter Sohn
Production Company:Walt Disney Pictures | Pixar Animation Studios
Summary/Review:
In a universe populated by anthropomorphic representations of the classical elements – Fire, Water, Air, and Earth – people of all types live together in Element City. The Fire elements are the working class, and discriminated against by the other elements. Bernie (Ronnie del Carmen) and Cinder Lumen (Shila Ommi) emigrate to Element City in hopes of better life, opening a story and raising their daughter Ember (Leah Lewis).
Bernie’s dream is for Ember to take over the store when he retires but she does not have the temper for customer service. In one bout of anger, Ember accidentally breaks a water pipe in the store;s basement, threatening to flood the building, while also summoning a city inspector, a Water element named Wade Ripple (Mamoudou Athie). Working together to find the source of the leak, Ember and Wade begin to form a friendship which leads to a steamy romance. No, literally, they give off steam when they touch.
Elemental features familiar motifs of immigrant stories as well as the conventions of the rom-com. I feel that both of these stories could’ve been developed a bit more. Contradictorily, I also felt the movie ran a bit long. Overall it was enjoyable, and the filmmakers had fun playing with the big concepts. They also employed a lot of puns in the dialogue, which is targeted right at me, but you’re experience with wordplay may be different. As with all Pixar movies, it is visually impressive, and with so much going on I’m sure it would reward repeated views to catch the details.
Rating: ***
Panorama of the Mountains 