Father_RIPs

Elemental is bad, it's as simple as that. There were a few key issues that are easy to pinpoint, but overall the reason this failed is much more abstract. I think the main issue is that Pixar got in way over their heads. They had this story idea but no real means to animate it, so once they figured out a way to animate it (using 151,000 computer cores), they then had to work around the confines of this massive animation project. And by all means, you can tell this was an issue; cutaways and transitions are awful throughout, and you can tell that the script is majorly rushed to get past this factor; It seemed lazy. Not one character takes a breath in this film before moving on to the next rushed, poorly-written line. Scene after scene with no real meaning and every story element (pun intended) that was supposed to elicit some type of emotional response was given to you in an unsolicited flashback that made no sense. And this created some cringeworthy backstory scenes and dialogue that came out of nowhere. It was quite possibly one of the worst films I have seen in a long time, and it's more heartbreaking that it came from Pixar.

Now to be fair to what they've done here, the animation is beautiful, they created a really good-looking animated film, but there was no time to appreciate it due to quick cuts and pointless filler scenes. Once again, Disney and Pixar prioritized the wrong things, taking away from this beautiful feat of animation to create a sloppy pointless story.

The voice acting was also sub-par, to say the least. Most of it was average and doesn't make you think twice, except for Ember (Leah Lewis), who really shined, seeming to give real emotion in her lines despite the awful writing. But Wade (Mamoudou Athie) is a different story. His voice was heartless, in my opinion. And again, this may be the script's fault more than the voice acting since Wade was such a boring character who wasn't given a name until halfway through the film (which is insane to think about). We were given a few glimpses of Wade's emotional backstory that could have potentially had some importance to the story, but then the credits roll, and you feel the same way about him at the end as you did in the beginning. He was annoying, and his arc was flatter than the voice acting given for him.

I didn't go into this film thinking it was going to be good, but I thought it could be fun. I was proven wrong in a big way. Overall the only redeeming part is its animation which is overshadowed by its story issues. It's worth a watch for the animation alone, but should not be glorified for any other aspect of it (which seems to be what many are doing.

I don't like to be negative, and I usually try to give movies the benefit of the doubt, but Cocaine Bear was just simply not good. Now that's not to say I didn't enjoy it or that there weren't any good parts either. For example, the gore was probably the biggest star in the film; Cocaine Bear got brutal at some points, and I liked the somewhat unhinged violence. But almost every other aspect of the film came up short. All of the acting was bad, the writing was hard to listen to, and not every joke really landed for me. Cocaine bear succeeds in entertaining but fails to create anything memorable.

Something I've never had to complain about before was the actors' voices. One thing I couldn't help but think about throughout the entire film was how bad the casting was. I think the most off-putting performance was from O'shea Jackson Jr. His character was just awfully written, and every time his plot was on the screen, I could only sigh. He simply did not fit in his role, and that's how most characters felt (except for the children). Everyone felt out of place, fictional, and offputting.

The writing certainly didn't help with any of the performances either. I know this is supposed to be a "funny" movie, and there were some funny parts, but listening to some of the dialogue throughout the movie was tough at times. The writing made it feel like an indie movie written by a 12-year-old. The script also failed to create any attachment between the characters and the audience. For the most part, I didn't care if any of the characters died or not. In fact, by the end, I was hoping some of the characters would die since the gore was much more pleasant than hearing them talk.

I know I am being harsh. So despite my complaints, I will admit the movie was entertaining; it was fun to watch while I wait for something better to come to theaters. I'm glad I saw it now that it has come out, but I will most likely never see Cocaine Bear again, which is something that I can live with.