Elio

Elio is another heartwarming gem from Pixar. The animation is beautiful, with rich colors and amazing space designs. The story blends emotion, humor, and action in a way that only Pixar can. You really feel for Elio as he navigates a strange new world, and the ending is both powerful and satisfying. The film balances fun alien adventures with quiet, touching moments that stay with you. It's a classic Pixar mix of wonder and warmth - not just great for kids, but meaningful for adults too.

Synopsis: For centuries, people have called out to the universe looking for answers--in Disney and Pixar's all-new feature film "Elio," the universe calls back! The cosmic misadventure introduces Elio, a space fanatic with an active imagination and a huge alien obsession. So, when he's beamed up to the Communiverse, an interplanetary organization with representatives from galaxies far and wide, Elio's all in for the epic undertaking. Mistakenly identified as Earth's leader, Elio must form new bonds with eccentric alien lifeforms, navigate a crisis of intergalactic proportions, and somehow discover who and where he is truly meant to be.

Elio (voiced by Yonas Kibreab) was a young boy who'd lost both parents and was left to live with his aunt, Olga Solis (Zoe Saldana), a major in the Air Force (or some other branch). As a result of losing his parents, and probably other emotional deficiencies, Elios preferred to be kidnapped by aliens rather than continue to live on Earth.

He got his wish one evening when aliens from the "Communiverse" beamed him up. They were a collection of the finest minds of all the galaxies and they were looking to induct another member.

"Elio" was not a movie on my watchlist, but my son wanted to see it and there are very few movies in theater I can take him to. "Elio" was average to me. It was very formulaic and dealt with the same emotions most animations deal with: pain, loss, joy, acceptance, love. I don't begrudge the movie's message or adventure, it just wasn't very unique.

I do appreciate that it isn't a remake nor sequel to an existing IP by Disney and Pixar. It's nice to see a new story and original idea without having to constantly be slammed with remakes and sequels.

To begin with, the concept of Elio is pretty good as a story about venturing through the new world, UFO's, alien adventures and mishaps sound is pretty cool. Throughout, once again, the animation is rich of colors, vibrate lights, and the designs are cute and well-structured. Pixar never fails to impress with their high quality animation style and designs. Especially with the alien designs, I really loved their movements and structures. Alongside with the sound designs, the colorful vibe atmosphere, and there is a good sense of humor as it does balance out with some of the emotional levels together.

However, despite the good concept, the writing unfortunately doesn't fully take advantage with the creative concept as it thinks. There are certain moments in the story that felt cliches with modern children animation tropes, and emotional and complex moments that seemed interesting, but the execution comes off as it plays a bit too safe. I understand that it's for children, but in the past, Pixar has been able to put good complex themes within their works and it makes it a great emotional experience. Because of this, it didn't felt as impactful nor connectable as I would have liked.

The character of Elio is okay as his development offers a good insight with the setting and atmosphere. But the other characters weren't really as interesting, as they felt undeveloped and uninteresting to observe. The voice performances, surprisingly, was pretty mild as despite some strong voice performances, some felt a bit awkward and out of place.

I'll be honest, it's a bit disappointing because I love to support more original new stories from Disney because they need to continue to bring out new worlds and stories. Unfortunately, Pixar and Disney has been falling into the "play safe" path, and it effects what made Disney in the past amazing. Overall, Elio is a okay popcorn Disney movie for the children but it's quite forgettable.

Pixar's latest has a lot going for it, and its premise-a lost child trying to find his place in the world-is a strong one. However, despite moments of great dialogue and brave, original character designs, the story struggles to overcome its inherent structural issues.

That's not to say Elio is unwatchable. The lead characters have charm, and there are flashes of brilliance. But it feels like a film that could have been so much more, if only more thought had been given to how the middle section was constructed. Events and characters are introduced and discarded too quickly, existing more to serve plot progression than to enrich the story. As a result, both the wonderful beginning and well-conceived conclusion are let down by a workmanlike narrative that fails to connect the dots in a satisfying way. The emotional beats are technically there, but they're crammed in, making the climax feel unearned and predictable.

From an animation standpoint, this is one of Pixar's best in years. The character designs are daring and imaginative, with bold choices-such as some characters being designed without eyes-that showcase Pixar's creativity and technical skill. Even the odd decision to use low-frame-rate slow motion (which unfortunately ends up looking more like Claymation) demonstrates a willingness to experiment.

In the end, there's not much to hate about Elio, but the lack of meaningful secondary characters to justify Elio's departure-or his return-makes the film feel less original than it should. It often echoes previous Pixar works like Finding Nemo or WALL-E, just wrapped in different packaging. With a stronger narrative structure, it could have stood shoulder to shoulder with those classics. As it is, Elio seems destined to be a film that kids watch in fragments-engaged by some parts and indifferent to others.

Like Marvel, Pixar may now be a victim of its own high standards. Only true originality-in both concept and construction-will allow it to reclaim its former glory.

Elio ends up feeling like Pixar at its most generic with so many recycled beats and supposed emotional moments taken from any one of their other movies without any of the impact. The film just feels like it's trying to get those tears out of you from the very first scenes and it actually started to annoy me very quickly and annoying really is the main word I associate with this viewing experience. It feels so emotionally manipulative and as a result most of the beats fall completely flat. The script just seems to be allergic to subtlety and there wasn't a single resolution I didn't see coming from a mile away after the first 20 minutes. It got the odd chuckle out of me but for the most part I found the characters to be complete non-entities and outside of the main aunt-nephew relationship I don't think the film took enough time to build up it's dynamics. Even the visuals, which are admittedly impressive, still feel close to images we've seen in better Pixar movies but without any of real spectacle. This movie bored me and it annoyed me but for the most part I felt nothing whilst watching it and those my least favourite kind of movie watching experiences. It's abundantly clear at this point how good Pixar can be so that makes it even more frustrating when they make as much of a nothing movie as Elio as turned out to be.