Elemental (2023) – Elementary

Released: 15th June
Seen: 22nd June

When it comes to releasing quality films, there are very few studios that could be labeled as sure bets. Studios that, more often than not, are somewhat of a marker for quality films. If you’re a horror fan and see Blumhouse, you’ve got a good shot. People who might call themselves Cinephiles perk up seeing A24, Superhero buffs rush to Marvel films, it’s just a fact that some studio markers will get people paying attention and the kings of that in family film for the last few decades have been Disney/Pixar who has basically just released great films non-stop for decades. Even with their most recent releases having trouble at the box office, they’re still making good quality films that capture the imagination and test the limits of the 3D animation software that they use, and with Elemental they’ve absolutely pulled that off again.

Elemental imagines a world where various sentient elements live in a little multicultural town known as Element City. There are the Water people, the Air people, the Earth people and in the smallest part of town there are the Fire people who have managed to make Element City work for them somewhat, even though it’s clearly not designed with them in mind (as evidenced by all the water everywhere). In this little community of fire people is a little mom-and-pop shop run by the Lumen family, the elders Bernie (Ronnie del Carmen) and Cinder (Shila Ommi) and their daughter Ember (Leah Lewis) who they hope will take over their little store one day, as soon as she learns to control her fiery temper. 

Of course, her ability to work on controlling that temper is tampered with by the arrival of Wade Ripple (Mamoudou Athie), a water element who is not only an inspector who might have to shut down the Lumen family store for code violations but also is just a big goofball who might pull out some warm feelings from Ember, feelings she definitely doesn’t have time for with her family obligations. In classic romance story terms, these two kids from two very different backgrounds have to find a way to make their very different cultures somehow come together.

Once again Pixar delves into their well-worn standard of “What if (BLANK) had feelings” (previous installments have included What if toys had feelings, what if cars had feelings and what if feelings had feelings) with the main idea being that the four elements have feelings and personalities, With that core conceit in place, Elemental allows the animators to create a world where they give life to elements that were formerly intended as background imagery and as one might expect they absolutely nail it.

Each section of the world we see is beautiful and tells a rich story, the fire neighbourhood, in particular, feels like a town made by people who were desperate to fit in and work around the limitations of where they ended up, namely a train system that runs through the town which appears to be powered by water. The richness of the world really helps make the story of two very different people coming together much clearer, and really helps sell the not-subtle subtext about immigration.

That’s right, Elemental might’ve advertised itself as a charming romantic story between two elements but in reality, it’s a story about immigrants trying to make a life for themselves in a new land when their old one is destroyed and how they try to deal with the new world which constantly seems to try to push them out or being micro-aggressive towards them. These can be big moments like scenes where giant signs saying “No fire allowed” prevent the Lumen family from being part of the community to little moments like one of the Ripple family telling Ember that she speaks English very well. The film doesn’t shy away from the immigrant storyline and it handles it really well.

It also helps that each of the main characters, in particular Ember and Wade, are so fantastically animated that every little emotional beat works. Every little look, every movement, every ‘power’ that the elements have is so specific and well thought out that it’s captivating. Sure, there are times when you can’t help but wonder what the limitations of these elements are (one particular sequence that takes place underwater is absolutely gorgeous but also raises questions about how long a giant bubble of air surrounding a fire person could actually last) but what’s presented is so well handled that you can push those questions aside… It also helps to push a lot of them aside because it’s a film about sentient elements, the fire is walking and talking so maybe it’s silly to ask why it isn’t burning everything everywhere it goes.

Elemental is just a good fun family film that’s telling a heartfelt story about an immigrant family trying to make it in a world that’s not made for them – but a world they belong in. It’s charming and funny with enough creative visuals to remind you why Pixar is one of the best animation houses on the planet. This is the kind of interesting original film that should be a standard for kids, showing them how to get along with people who are a little different from what they are and how to live in a world where everyone is just trying to get along. If your screening of Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse is done and you’re looking for something else to take the kids to, this might be the perfect thing to enjoy with the family.