Elemental is one of those movies that everyone had thoughts on, from the concept alone people had questions, thoughts and criticisms. There was just one major thing though, for a good while we didn't really have much to go off of on what this movie really was. The first teaser was a brief showcase of the world this movie took place in, and even then not by much. It showed us two things, that this was a world full of elementals, and that fire was not very common here. We got a more detailed trailer afterwards, but exactly what this movie was, we still weren't sure. We knew it had something to do with prejudice, maybe? Honestly I probably should have drawn this conclusion earlier, but it did seem like Disney was trying to market this as a second Zootopia. However, those are the trailers, and trailers, even fantastic ones, are not whole movies, so how was Elemental as a movie?
Ultimately, Elemental is a good movie. Not great, not spectacular, honestly it is kind of bog standard for Pixar, but it is a good movie. I think the unsure expectations are what will really keep people away from checking this movie out in theatres, that or theatre prices. This movie is not another Zootopia, sort of, themes of prejudice are still prevalent, but the movie is ultimately not about prejudice in the same way Zootopia was. That being said, it's also not a wholly original story either, you can still find elements from modern Disney in this movie. I can't say it's about intergenerational trauma, this isn't another Encanto or Turning Red, but similar themes are there.
When it comes to world building, I'd say that Element City is about on par with Monsteropolis, but that still puts it leagues above Onward. Anyone even remember what Onward's city was called? I never really got the urge to want to explore this city, or really see how it worked. That being said, this movie's world is quite neat, I did enjoy seeing how the homes for the water folk were made, and I quite liked seeing how sports were done in this world. Some of the technicals, like the trains running on water, and there being canals to catch spills from the ships are nice touches, and of course the movie just looks beautiful, so that is a plus towards the worldbuilding as well.
However, neither the themes nor worldbuilding is this movie's strength. The strength lies completely in the relationship between Ember and Wade, and while the arc is again, not wholly original, it is well done and well-made is always going to last longer than unique. I liked seeing why these two fell in love in the first place, Ember admiring Wade's ability to connect with people and Wade admiring Ember's creative thinking. Ultimately, I wanted to see them together, I wanted to see them have all the fun experiences together, I wanted them to be happy. I think Elemental focused on the wrong side of the story, the engaging bit wasn't how everyone else saw Wade and Ember's relationship, the engaging bit was the relationship.
Saying that Elemental is a standard Pixar film, should be seen as a testament to how high Pixar's standard's really are. Remember this is the studio that gave us Toy Story, Finding Nemo, Up, The Incredibles, so when Pixar releases a film that's good but not great, it can be seen as them slipping up. Pixar's output has been pretty full of slip ups and mixed opinions, I loved Toy Story 4 but a lot of people see it as unnecessary, Turning Red has a lot of controversy attached, Lightyear is the lowest rated Pixar movie that isn't in the Cars franchise on Rotten Tomatoes, Brave and The Good Dinosaur are seen as Pixar's worst movies, and Onward was rather generic. Pixar is still able to put fantastic movies out, but I think it's okay that they put out something that is just "good" as well. So no, this isn't in the upper echelons of Pixar movies, but it's still in a comfortable space. I can see Elemental being someone's favourite Pixar movie, but not a lot of peoples. Even still, I give this movie a solid recommendation.
Also, how have I never used the world "Echelons" before?
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