In Elemental City, fire, water, air, and land residents live amongst each other but don’t mix well. When a fire woman meets a water guy, they find out how much they actually have in common.
Disney has been around for a long time and has had plenty of ups and downs. It seems like recently there have been more downs as there hasn’t been something really extraordinary in a while. Critics and audiences seem to be a bit Marvel-fatigued these days. Disney’s Lightyear and Strange World were released last year and ended up becoming two of Disney’s biggest flops ever.
Disney’s newest effort Elemental is a fun fine wonderfully animated story that doesn’t fully dive deep into its concept.
The City
The best thing that this movie has going for it is its imaginative animation and creativity. Elemental definitely calls for a second viewing just to be able to point out every joke or every character that is in the background. There is so much detail all throughout which is beautiful to the eye but unfortunately, the movie doesn’t truly focus on all the creative ideas.
Don’t get me wrong, a lot of detail went into this city and its habitants but the movie wants to focus more on our main characters than show us every landscape.
The Story
Ember is our main character. She has been helping her father run the family business and will soon inherit the business when she is ready. Her parents have sacrificed a lot to have a good life and have their business thrive. Ember doesn’t want to do anything to risk all they have accomplished. When she meets a water guy named Wade she learns that maybe she should follow her own dreams.
There are themes of racism and immigration here that are talked about on a surface level. We know Ember’s family has struggled and came from a different place. We know that they have a hatred for water people because of stuff that has happened to them. We know all these things. The movie decides to focus surprisingly on the romantic relationship between Ember and Wade.
It isn’t a bad direction to go in but when you have a movie that is surrounded by so many other interesting ideas you can’t help but want more. The romance is sweet and is reminiscent of Romeo & Juliet. Two lovers that aren’t supposed to be with each other have to hide their feelings. Like I said, not a bad idea but once again very surface level.
We already had a deeper romance story in Pixar’s Up. This is the main problem of Elemental is everything story-wise has been done before and done better.
Overall
Elemental is not Pixar’s best but it is far away from being its worst either. There is nothing wrong with a movie being just good. The animation is beautiful and for its total runtime, the movie is very entertaining, humorous, and sweet. It fails in being something that is utterly memorable as it throws away most of its more creative ideas quickly in exchange for a sweet romance. If you are looking for a fun animated good movie to put a smile on your face this is the one for you. Just don’t expect this to be the next biggest thing from Disney.
