By Jesalynn Talavera
Over the summer Disney and Pixar released a newly animated film, “Elemental”, on June 16. The movie was directed by Peter Sohn who was behind the feature film “The Good Dinosaur.” He made sure that the film was animated by new types of systems that would simulate the correct movement for his characters. The story is a rom-com that takes place in a world of living elements. The main lovers of this story are a clash between Water and Fire. Besides these two having to struggle from being totally opposite elements, the story represents the struggle between cultural and income classes.
Before I gave this film a chance, the advertisements I saw for this movie were very poorly brought out. They focused on making silly things for tik tok or instagram, which made viewers cringe. It was to the point where it was an instant skip to any elemental ad. I would not be surprised if others like me completely forgot about the film until a few days after its release. I ended up watching it the week after it had been released with my brothers. I had no expectations of the film, the only thing I knew was that it was a cliche romance between two elements.
The film totally blew away my low expectations, however. I was on the edge of my seat. The film pulled me in so fast within the start. I was in awe of the animation and how amazing the sound effects were, and I was awed by the special effects in terms of the movement of the characters in their environment. It was not even 20 minutes into the move before my eyes got a little watery from the story. I loved the character Ember so much because I understood her anger issues, family issues, and how hard she works.
A particular highlight of the movie was the emotional breakdown from Ember about how she does not want to disappoint her father. Her family moved away from the home her parents were born in, and Ember has spent her life trying to connect with a distant culture that she is no longer surrounded in, causing a cultural rift in her family. That hit me close to home as I am the oldest daughter in my household, and I have continually struggled to connect with my family’s Mexican heritage while living in America. This was not the only emotional scene but it was one that really made me feel a strong emotional connection to the movie.
This movie did keep my younger brothers in their seats, but I do not believe they took it to heart as teens and adults who watched this might. Overall, it was a good sit down movie for the family. A lot of other reviews say this was a downfall of Pixar’s animation and disney’s storytelling, but I disagree. The story and animation was truly spectacular.
