The Good, The Bad and The Critic

Established on March 19th, 2012 and pioneered by film fanatic Michael J. Carlisle. The Good, The Bad and The Critic will analyze classic and contemporary films from all corners of the globe. This title references Sergei Leone's influential spaghetti western The Good, The Bad and the Ugly.

Sunday, June 25, 2023

Elemental (2023) Review

Title: Elemental
Year: 2023
Director: Peter Sohn
Country: US
Language: English



The advertising for Elemental makes the picture seem like a Romeo and Juliet affair. While there is romance, the main plot of the film involves bureaucracy and familial expectations, weaved together with racial prejudice analogy that evokes Guess Who's Coming to Dinner? (1967)  


Elemental
follows  Ember (Leah Lewis) and Wade (Mamoudou Athie) as they try to save her fathers' business from being shutdown. 


 I wanted to like Elemental, but unfortunately I didn't. The characters didn't have much chemistry together; it was hard to feel invested in their budding relationship. The characters weren't well written. Ember runs through emotions so quickly that she becomes off-putting and dislikeable. 

The computer animation in Elemental lacks harmony and can be jarring at times. The characters look very cartoon-ish, but the objects & environments around them look photo-real. The contrasting styles feel like they belong in different pictures. 

Though the themes in Elemental are important to show a developing mind, one can show their child better films like Zootopia (2018) or Frozen (2013), 




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