I think this is what happens when you try to remake Zootopia and Inside Out at the same time. Elemental isn’t as clever as either of those films, but what it lacks in ingenuity, it clearly compensates in … SQUIRREL!
There is a lot to like about Elemental. The animation is spectacular. And while the emotional level and romance level rise only as far as the film’s scientific understanding of elements (earth, air, fire, water), the film isn’t bankrupt in these categories, just … shows a limited understanding. The outward metaphor of immigration and tolerance is well-considered. I’m not sure I would necessarily describe uprooted Eastern Europeans as “fire” as opposed to established Americans being “water,” but it is impossible not to see that the film is about the struggles of immigrants in a foreign land, another subject we should more about in the era of trafficking as a political statement.
The Lumen family isn’t exactly welcomed with open arms by the citizens of Element City. They are literally made of fire while most of the citizens are not. The “earth” creatures –often represented by shrubs) flat out loathe the fire people for obvious reason, but even water and air seem hostile to fire as well. And when the Lumens aren’t being attacked by living beings, the city itself seems at war with fire people; the overflowing canals constantly slosh at them while the hydroelectric El train showers a rainfall with every pass.
Eventually, the Lumens have a hot-headed little girl, Ember (voice of Leah Lewis). Ember is to be the sole inheritor of the mom ‘n’ pop shop The Fireplace, a store specifically tailored to …. hmmm, how should I put this? “Their kind” is an awfully problematic phrase, yet completely true in this case. The plot begins one afternoon when Ember is attempting to show her father she can run the shop by herself.
She fails, spectacularly.
Blowing her stack with such intensity that pipes burst in the basement, Ember simultaneously floods and sets the store on fire. You would think that a store selling all combustible products would be made of non-combustible material, but here we are. More importantly, the flooding accidently summons city inspector 
Wade Ripple (Mamadou Athie), who immediately puts the business on notice for code violations. Ah, romance. “So mom, dad, how did you guys meet?”
Elemental could be the most skilled animation in movie history. Every character in the film is an ambulatory work of art. There are believable water people, fire people, and cloud people in this thing. If you’re not impressed with the animation in Elemental, you never will be by animation; it is as simple as that. Such would be great if monumental achievements in animation went hand-in-hand with monumental achievements in writing. That’s not quite the case here. Though likable, neither Wade nor Ember quite cracks the “memorable” barrier. This is a shame because my favorite moment in the film is when the two decide to embrace. My understanding is that fire and water make tequila, yet something better happens here. In fact, it’s possible I undersold the romance above. While the moment is undeniably romantic and memorable, however, the players are not.
For its handling of tough issues and a new take on Romeo & Juliet, Elemental could well have been a great film. I don’t think it quite gets there. I enjoyed Elemental well enough, but in the pantheon of Pixar genius, this one won’t rank in the top 10. There is precious little to take home besides the fantastic look of the picture itself. I wish that were enough, but I’m gonna need to see a periodic table of nuance before Elemental makes my top 10 for 2023.
Wade is of water and Ember of fire
It takes them a while to embrace desire
Opposites attract
After feeling attacked
It’s the story of romance entire
Rated PG, 101 Minutes
Director: Peter Sohn
Writer: John Hoberg, Kat Likkel, Brenda Hseuh
Genre: The immigrant story, as retold in Pixar-vision
Type of being most likely to enjoy this film: Animators
Type of being least likely to enjoy this film: Bigots
