Written by: John Hoberg, Kat Likkel, Brenda Hsueh
Starring: Leah Lewis, Mamoudou Athie, Ronnie del Carmen, Shila Ommi, Wendi McLendon-Covey
Rating: [4/5]
Being an outsider by definition leaves individuals not feeling included in the circles they want to find belonging. This only gets more difficult when the reason for outsider status lies solely in elements that one could not control such as their appearance. Elemental utilizes this metaphor to full effect to tell not only a beautiful immigrant story but also of budding young love in ways that draws its elements quite imaginatively.
Born outside of her family’s homeland, Cinder (Leah Lewis), a fire element, has trouble controlling her anger while working at her family’s shop, the Blue Flame. When her frustration leads to a pipe burst witnessed by water element city inspector, Wade Ripple (Mamoudou Athie) she tries to stop him from reporting the issue that may close down the shop her family worked so hard to build.
Personifying something inhuman and attaching emotions to it in order to tell a relatable story pretty much summarizes Pixar’s playbook and what they enjoy crafting. They have this way of really nailing the emotions that come with their story and with Elemental they let Peter Sohn tell a beautiful tale of an immigrant girl trying to make the most of her situation within a circumstance where fire elements get seen as outsiders simply because of the way they look in addition to how they impact others. As most know, fire has the tendency to destroy when not controlled properly and we see this transpire with Cinder and her particular issues with self-control. As she progresses throughout this story, this journey brings change as it reflects with the relationship she has with the two men in her life: Wade and her father, Bernite (Ronnie del Carmen).
With Wade it hits all the elements one expects with a romance between two individuals from literally different worlds. Water elements live much differently than fires, and Ember’s presence almost sets this imbalance. She steps into their world and very much sticks out because of the segregated nature of this world. The fire’s elements stick to themselves and away from everyone else because of their subjugation, making the possibility of her dating Wade something that would make her father irate because of what he had to endure. A forbidden love of sorts, and this mix of the persistent Ember and the fairly weepy Wade make for such a lovely combination that answers the question of how they can even hold hands. We get it all with these two and the beauty that comes with young love. However, the true beauty of this film occurs with the relationship Ember has with her father.
Very much in line with immigrant stories we have seen before where the parent has built something they want to pass along to their child and it may not exactly be what that child wants. The parent who tried to make it work in this new place while the fully integrated child tries to find their place in between both, the way Peter Sohn depicts this dynamic carries so much weight and gets executed wonderfully. As one can imagine, Pixar tries to always have that moment that will make audiences reach for a tissue box and it came from a moment shared between these two. Everything about what transpires between these two feels earned and its reliability can be confirmed in the way many immigrant and first-generation kids connected with the way it captures both sides of this dynamic and how they come together in harmony to pull at the heartstrings.
As far as the animation goes, Elemental does well in fully utilizing the elements of these characters to best visualize the difference between them. The animation on all the fire individuals makes them feel quite tactile and displays how destructive fire can be in this world. The merging of these colors shows the magic of this world overall and further cements what makes Pixar the leader in the world of animation when it comes to consistent quality. This certainly does not come as a surprise, but they certainly deserve the praise.
Another strong outing by this great studio and what a beautiful job done by Peter Sohn. He pulls from his own personal experiences to draw these metaphors and build something wonderfully relatable and poignant. The film comes with plenty of laughs to bring in addition to the emotion at play and certainly carries plenty of hijinks. We delve into topics children can certainly digest in what it teaches while simultaneously exploring something that will touch the heart of even the eldest immigrant who has lived a familiar story. Everything about this film worked quite well and it all culminated in an ending that puts the cherry on top both emphatically but also lovingly as this studio knows how to do in making us feel for these fictional elements.
Films with Josh 
