Peter Sohn
Elemental

THE REVIEW

“My parents immigrated to the United States from Korea in the early seventies, where they opened a grocery store in the Bronx. We were one of many families who ventured into a new land with dreams and hopes, in a unique crossroads of cultures, languages, and beautiful small neighborhoods. That’s what led me to Elemental.” (Peter Sohn)

“Elemental” is the 27th Pixar classic, perhaps one of the least loved and most criticized (even though the following “Wish” would do worse), and it’s well known that Pixar is no longer the same as during its Golden Age from 2001 to 2011 (in ten years it produced masterpieces that became part of the collective imagination, including “Monsters, Inc.” and “Wall-E”, with a consistency that not even the best Disney had accustomed us to). Then, of course, ideas run out, some big names focus more on producing than directing (like the deus ex machina John Lasseter), and good (or very good, see “Inside Out”) works alternate with questionable or sometimes even bad ones (“The Good Dinosaur”, 2016). Of course, children’s and teens’ tastes have changed, perhaps too “cornered” in the Social Universe, in which every content has to be quick, fast, and always in motion—even if the movement leads nowhere, as long as downtime is banned. Hence, today a film like “Wall-E” (already 18 years old) might make people frown, unlike for that generation of preteens who still partly ignored social media.

“Elemental” goes at a thousand km/h, tireless in its 101 minutes, during which everything happens, even if at times it seems absolutely nothing is happening. In the Big Metropolis (now such an overused theme it no longer dazzles the eyes— from “Zootropolis” to “Robots”, the latter actually being very good—there’s a constant blooming of references to Fritz Lang’s “Metropolis”, which the audience targeted by “Elemental” doesn’t even know), Ember and Wade meet by chance: he’s water, she’s fire. Yes, the Big Metropolis is made only of “elements” (water, fire, earth, and air), all happily living together in the same space, because differences exist but can be overcome with mutual respect and acceptance. And what could possibly be more different than water, which puts out fire? The idea, even if a little far-fetched, could be cute, it’s a kind of “Zootropolis” without animals.

However, the lack of a villain to fight (here there is a dam at risk of overflowing, and all the Fires are scared stiff, understandably) and the little love tale barely work, mainly because everything is extremely predictable, and the two leads get together, break up, get back together, break up again, then get back together once more with such speed (and stupidity) that their choices are hardly justified, even if they are teenagers and could therefore be understood. The “chemistry” between the two practically never catches on, partly due to some truly uninspired side characters (think of Ember’s father, Bernie, who seems at death’s door from halfway through the film on, but naturally, he’ll survive and everything will end happily ever after). Strong points: the frenzied pace, some incredibly successful comic moments (when Wade introduces Ember to his parents, it’s genuinely funny), very few songs (which, few as they are, are still bad), and a sense of aesthetic (and technical) grandeur that, several times, leaves you open-mouthed (those who saw it at the cinema in 4K left visually delighted). On home video it loses a lot.

The criticisms were fierce, focusing on the flimsy (and silly) plot, but in a film, the technical aspects should always, in my view, be taken into account, and from this perspective nulla questio. And perhaps the Metacritic review seems the most fitting: “Elemental might not fully satisfy like the greatest Pixar films, but it remains a solid story told with dazzling visual flair.” The public reacted lukewarmly, but it came out right after the “Barbie” phenomenon (much worse, on closer inspection, than the Pixar film) and scored the second-worst debut in Pixar history ($29.5 million at the U.S. box office), but as soon as it landed on Disney+, it became the most watched film ever (26 million streamings). A sign of the times and of an increasingly consolidated audience disengagement (in any country in the world) from crowding the ever emptier movie theaters.

In the Italian version, as usual, they tried to ruin everything a bit by having the protagonist dubbed by Stefano De Martino (originally Leah Lewis) and giving a small part to the motorcyclist Francesco Bagnaia, entrusting the soundtrack (originally by Thomas Newman and the singer-songwriter Lauv [Ari Strapans Leff]) to Mr.Rain. Everyone will have their own opinion, but it’s an old (and by now far too established) Italian habit to use celebrity voices, regardless of their technical or artistic merit.