Growing up, I watched almost every single Disney movie that was put into theaters.
I watched Rapunzel and Flynn Ryder fall in love and discover that she was the lost princess. I watched Lightning McQueen and Mater form a friendship as strong as steel. I watched Rylie enter a new stage in her life and learn that joy cannot exist without sadness.
I grew up wearing princess dresses. I laughed during The Incredibles, and I cried during The Good Dinosaur. Even movies that were not my cup of tea, I would watch.
So, when my dad suggested that my sister and I see the new movie Elemental over the summer, I knew I could not miss it.
In Elemental, all of the elements of nature—fire, water, earth, and air—coexist with one another in the same city. While it looked like they all lived in perfect harmony, there was the inevitable feud between fire and water.
The feud is seen in full swing while fire element Ember Lumen (Leah Lewis) is trying to run her father’s shop, and water element and safety inspector Wade Ripple (Mamoudou Athie) threatens to shut it down. While their interactions begin with Ember begging Wade to keep the shop open, the two elements find out that they have a lot more in common than they originally were set to believe.
Ember and Wade’s story development was incredibly interesting. Though the two grew up being told to stay away from each other—since the two elements extinguish one another—they never hated each other. From the very beginning, Wade was apologetic towards Ember since he doesn’t truly want to put her father’s shop out of business. It’s the same for Ember, too. She doesn’t blame the fact that the business is in jeopardy on Wade solely because he’s a water element. Instead, the two work together to save the shop.
This movie portrays a perfect parallel between the elemental city and the world in which we live today. People are separated into different social classes based on their backgrounds and are told to neglect one another because of their labels. Elemental leans on that and depicts two feuding elements forming a beautiful relationship between people from different worlds.
Looking at it from a production point of view, the quality of the movie was incredible. The soundtrack fit perfectly with the plot and the sound effects were uncanny. It was very well put together and both the plot and the visuals kept me entertained throughout.
Elemental does have a bit of romance laced within the movie. While it was super cute and had me smiling in my seat, there were some moments that were quite cheesy, even for Disney. There were moments that were dragged out for a few seconds longer than necessary, but that didn’t negatively affect my overall opinion of the movie.
Elemental is a different take on the typical Disney movie. While some elements—pun intended—are quite similar, such as the hint of romance and the deeper overarching theme, it is unlike anything I have ever seen from Disney prior to, and I am so happy I was able to experience it in theaters.
