Pixar has been going downhill ever since COVID-19 struck. Their last good film was Soul, but not many people watched it. Lightyear, Turning Red, and Luca were all disappointments from a legendary company that released Wall-E and Up. So when the Elemental trailer came out, people started saying it was Zootopia with elements instead of animals. But when I watched the movie, I was shocked because it was way better than I thought.

I may not have had any expectations for Elemental after recent Pixar movies, poor reviews from the Cannes Film Festival, and initial box office disappointment. But through word of mouth, people began to watch, so I watched it.

I think the reason why the movie didn’t get the audience at first was because of how it was advertised. The trailer looked like the movie was a rom-com when it really was more about an immigrant family. But Elemental eventually became a box office hit, making more than 400 million dollars worldwide.

The plot may have been simple, but it had so much depth and maturity. It wasn’t just a romance movie where fire and water couldn’t be in love because of their physical state, but also due to their family background and culture. Let’s say that fire represents Asians and water is like, whitewashed people.

The animation was as good as always from Disney, and the song by Lauv was stuck in my head for days. But I think my main praises go somewhere else.

The two lead characters were perfect. The voice acting showed ranges of emotions you don’t often hear like you can feel pain in their voices when they get hurt. The two mains, fire named Ember and water named Wade, are made for each other. Their chemistry is probably the best I’ve seen in any other animated film. Wade is a free-spirited and emotional guy, whereas Ember tries to hide her true emotions and lacks self-confidence. This film highlights her growth as a person (I mean as an element) when Wade enters her life, and becomes her turning point. God, this film made me spark all the romance out of me, and I’m usually emotionally dead.

Elemental is a rare good film from Pixar after a couple of misfires, mostly due to its two main characters that truly shine in this cute but profound story. If you haven’t watched it yet, stop reading this and go.