Friday, December 8, 2023

Elemental

 And this week's Friday night movie has been... Elemental!

Original image located here. Accessed 8th December 2023

I will admit that this year I have indulging in my inner film geek with my viewing choices. But, as we head into the final weeks of this year, there is still time for me to bring something more crowd pleasing to the table.

This movie has quite the shelf life: What started as a disappointing opening weekend has eventually grown into a success, finding an audience who appreciated the immigrant angle. Yet at the same time, there have been some whispers that this is one of Pixar's weakest efforts. I suppose such feedback would be inevitable considering the triumphs the studio has enjoyed in the past and it is only a matter of time before a misfire happens and/or the output starts to look formulaic. Still, I am willing to give the benefit of the doubt: Not everyone can produce a high quality body of work AND make each entrant an unique entity (Stanley Kubrick anyone?).

However I can't fool myself: This was a gem. The usual Pixar inventiveness is on display - indeed it was a treat seeing how this world works - and the animation is, once again, of high quality. 
But, as always, the real strength of this movie is it's heart, showing the trials and tribulations of an immigrant family, the need to forge one's own path and the necessity for connection (which indeed resonated with an Aspergan such as myself). Indeed that 'Touch' scene was truly a thing of beauty.
And it wouldn't be a Pixar movie if it didn't leave me an emotional wreck by the end.

So it the end I don't know what the nay-sayers are complaining about: This is another solid entry in Pixar's (admittedly well-stocked) library. 

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