Elemental

Elemental has several obvious glaring problems. For one thing, the attempt to make the elements' differences an overt metaphor for race/culture is shallow and misplaced at best most of the time.

The story's themes and plot itself are about as worn-out and tired as the art of the story itself. Not a single new idea is really explored at this level.

And, at the more surface level, the film's visuals vary greatly in quality: the environments are gorgeous, colorful, and vibrant, while the character designs appear haphazard, thrown together, and honestly kind of ugly.

But where this film shines-and I mean REALLY shines, surprisingly-is in the writing of its characters.

Ember and Wade are instantly distinct, understood, and likeable. They both grow tremendously and at a consistent pace. They are 110% the reason to see this film. I got emotionally wrapped up in their lives and desires in a way that I've only felt in Pixar's best films. This is the sole great achievement of Elemental.

The one other thing I can praise is the sound design and the musical score-both of which are largely powerful and memorable.

Maybe it's that my expectations were on the floor going into this, but I'd be lying if I said I didn't enjoy it. Maybe wait to catch it on streaming, but don't write it off completely.

I've just watched it on a rainy night but it really entertained me even with my wet shoes! No matter what other media say, it has the familiar feeling pixar brought to me when i was a child, the kind of creativity, story-telling, and fabulous portray of an elemental city. Some may deem the plot as cliche and soup with draped with immigrant issue, but i think that make sense in a way director sohn want to tell and discuss in his movie. The most important, the reason i choose a pixar product is never want to be teached something at a cozy night, it's unfair to judge an animation for all-ages out of its depth, meaning and all, just enjoy it!

From that point, i think this movie has made it.

People are reading wayyyy too much into this movie. It's an animated movie so chill. I never even saw a trailer for this movie before watching so I had no clue what it was about. Pretty standard kids movie with fun quirky characters. Every one reminded me of some one I know. I wasn't really into the first half of the movie but the second half really picks up. The visual effects team crushed it on this one. I mean they really made it look cool. I think people are going a little hard on Pixar right now. It's really not easy making a movie this social climate so hats off for even trying. We thought it was good and my daughter loved it.

This is the Pixar I know. I knew what kind of a story Elemental was going to be. From the IMDb plot and the reviews, I knew the cliches it would have and the route it will take. But this movie still really touched me.

I was really surprised by how well they executed the romance. And I'm surprised by the fact that Pixar made just a love story. I knew there was going to be romance in this but I thought, like most pixar movies, the main theme of this movie would be something else and the romance would progress on the sidelines. But no, the romance takes center stage in this film.

The main character, Ember, was very well written. She was likeable, relatable, and we as viewers experienced the entire story through her perspective. In comparison to Ember though, the side characters aren't as well explored as she is and that's the aspect of the movie that could've been a bit better.

But the romance is very good, honestly. It doesn't fit at first and feels a bit forced initially. That's why the 1st act of the movie isn't really as engaging. But the romance is paced perfectly. Because when these 2 characters started understanding more and more about each other, I started to really root for them and that's when this movie started to get really good. Amd the conclusion of the movie is very satisfying because of how well the romance is executed. The soundtrack too was very catchy and it worked perfectly with some specific moments of the film.

The theme though is cliche and it could have been done better. And the character of wade too could have been explored a bit more.

But in the end, I had a really nice time with this movie. You know, when a character is crying, and you just can't help but feel like crying yourself, that's when you know the movie has done its job.

Pixar had lost its way lately, but this film might get them back on track. This was a very sweet and wonderfully executed romance.

Elemental

This tells the story of a water element and fire element falling in love; Elemental is a fresh spin on the opposites attract love story.

Themes of racial prejudice, systemic segregation, immigration and parental expectations are explored.

The biggest praise Elemental has is its leads. They're very distinct (not that surprising, seeing as they are different elements), and memorable; their love story is also told brilliantly. The relationship between the female lead and her father is also poignant, and drives the story and the decisions she takes, which ultimately provides a brilliant story arc for her character.

The animation of Elemental is rich and vibrant. The score is also great.

Elemental is sweet, funny and heartfelt (it drew a tear from me).

8.5-9/10.