Movie Review: ‘Elemental’

Review by Lauryn Angel

If you’re looking for a great father’s day pic for the family, Pixar’s latest, Elemental, will fit the bill nicely.

Citizens in Element City come in four varieties: Earth, Air, Fire, and Water. The opening scene shows four different vehicles dropping off immigrants to the city, and we follow a Fire couple, whom the immigration officer names Bernie (Ronnie Del Carmen) and Cinder (Shila Ommi) because he can’t pronounce their actual names. Through Bernie and Cinder’s journey to find a home, we discover that the rest of the elements are anti-fire, and an incident sets Bernie against Water individuals. Soon, though, they find a home and start a shop that brings a bit of the Fire homeland to Element City.

Fast forward to Bernie and Cinder’s daughter, Ember (Leah Lewis) is an adult, poised to take over the business so her father can retire – but her temper is an obstacle. Our story takes off when Ember loses her temper during the shop’s famous Red Dot Sale, leading to an encounter with Wade Ripple (Mamoudou Athie), a city inspector who happens to be Water. One thing leads to another, and Ember has to work with Wade to keep the family shop from being closed down by the city. Meanwhile, they develop feelings for each other, even while Ember firmly repeats her family’s credo that “Elements don’t mix.”

The film is set up as a love story, but it’s Ember’s relationship with her father that is the heart of the film. Ember struggles with making her father proud of her and meeting his expectations – even though she’s not sure taking over the shop is what she really wants. Meanwhile, Wade helps her find her joyful side and leads her to question things she’s always been told.

As is often the case, Pixar’s animation is lovely, and there’s some beautiful imagery here. And for the detail-oriented, there are a lot of fun puns in the advertising and products throughout the film. The humor often appeals more to older kids and grown-ups – there’s a game involving teams named the Wind Breakers and the Crop Dusters, a joke that might go over the little ones’ heads. The story is a bit bland, and the Fire culture in particular seems scattered as to what it represents metaphorically (it seems to settle for a vague “Asian”, but Asia contains many different cultures). The minor characters really made the movie for me, particularly Catherine O’Hara as Wade’s mother, Brooke, and Wendy McLendon-Covey as Wade’s boss, Gale.

Elemental is not Pixar’s best film, but it’s fun, and if your family celebrates Dad at the movies, this is a great choice. The film is preceded by the short “Carl’s Date,” bringing us more from our favorite curmudgeon from Up, voiced by Ed Asner, and Dug (Bob Peterson).