Tonight's Movie: Elemental (2023)

Last week I spent "Discount Tuesday" at my local theater seeing Disney's live-action THE LITTLE MERMAID (2023), and this week I went back to the theater to see the new film from Disney-Pixar, ELEMENTAL (2023).

ELEMENTAL has struggled at the box office for what appear to be a variety of reasons, including poor marketing and perhaps viewers trained during lockdowns to expect Pixar films to run on Disney+ instead of in theaters. That said, I was intrigued by the trailer and thought I'd give it a whirl.

It's a unique story about a city made up of "people" representing four different elements: Fire, water, air, and earth.

Ember (Leah Lewis) is the fiery -- literally and figuratively -- daughter of immigrant parents (Ronnie Del Carmen and Shila Ommi) who run a fire shop serving their community.

Ember doesn't have her parents' patience and flair for customer service, and one day when she rushes to the store basement for a "time out," in her agitation she breaks a water pipe. This leads to Ember meeting Wade Ripple (Mamoudou Athie), a city inspector of the "water" variety.

Ember and Wade hit it off -- his endlessly encouraging patience is a good fit for her much more ornery personality -- but there's a problem: Elements aren't supposed to "mix." What to do?

I enjoyed the colorful, interesting setting which was filled with "eye candy" along the lines of ZOOTOPIA (2016). Every corner of the screen is packed with interesting and amusing things to observe, which makes the movie fun in and of itself.

The plot was simultaneously original and predictable; obviously the idea for a romance between fire and water elements is pretty "out there," but at the same time it all works out in a fairly by-the-numbers way.

I wouldn't say it's top-drawer Pixar, but it was a good, upbeat film and a nice afternoon at the movies, suitable for a wide age range. The film deserves to have a wider viewership, and I hope it finds its audience.

The film runs 109 minutes. It was directed by Peter Sohn.

Parental Advisory: This film is rated PG.

The short CARL'S DATE (2023), featuring characters from Pixar's UP (2009), was shown before the movie. The late Edward Asner recorded his dialogue in 2021. I wasn't a particularly big fan of UP, but since the short also featured my favorite character Dug (Bob Peterson), I found it a fairly cute few minutes.

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