In Element City an unlikely relationship is struck up between Ember (Leah Lewis), a fire elemental and Wade (Mamoudou Athie), a water elemental. Can Fire and Water really mix?

Elemental has two layers of storytelling that are weaved into its extraordinary world. The first is an immigrant story about xenophobia and acceptance. The second is an unlikely love story laid against that xenophobia. But as with any Pixar movie these analogies will be easy for children to consume given their fantastical setting. 

The film starts with Ember’s parents leaving their homeland and coming to Element City. There is an Ellis Island type scene where they are assigned new names because their original names are difficult to pronounce and we see a montage of them making their way in this new world. We see the bigotry held against fire elementals as well as the bigotry that builds inside of them because of how they are treated. Which then brings us to Ember and Wade who meet accidentally when he is washed into her father’s store when a pipe bursts and they join forces to try to understand why water is coming into the Fire district. 

I initially wondered if there would be an interesting Chinatown homage given the water mystery but Elemental plays this storyline purely as a means to an end and it’s actually mostly forgotten by the time the film wraps. Its goal is purely to bring this odd couple together and to prove that we are not that different from each other after all. 

Whilst the usual criticism of latter Pixar films not being as good as their earlier films is true of Elemental this still plays out in an entertaining way. At its best there is a sweet love story and a lot of peculiar ideas about how a world filled with elements would work. Ember and Wade’s young love is endearing whilst the idea that fences or wooden benches would exist in this world is a funny one. 

Oddly from an animation perspective I was not as wowed by the detail and effects on display. Perhaps I am just numb to the fact that Pixar excels at this stuff as some of the water and fire effects and imagery on display are impressive and beautiful. 

Another entertaining Pixar movie that will probably be little remembered because of their earlier classics.