43. [Movie Review] Elemental (2023): Just take breath and make connection
I watched Elemental (2023) with my sister, not expecting much, but honestly. Wow, what a lovely film. I've seen so many negative reviews of this movie these past days. I don't care about what anyone says. It was a pretty good movie.
Elemental (2023) is set in Element City, where water, earth, air, and fire people live together (basically it's giving Avatar the Last Airbender, but the fire nation did not attack). The fire folks have been discriminated against and mostly live separately from the other elements, in their own community.
The movie opens with a fire couple arriving at an Ellis Island-like processing center, where they're renamed Cinder (voiced by Shila Ommi) and Bernie (Ronnie del Carmen) because the agent who helps them can't understand their actual names.
They eventually have a baby girl named Ember and buy a run-down building that they fix up to be both their home and their livelihood: a thriving convenience store that becomes a neighborhood hub. Ember grows up knowing that she'll eventually run the shop, although she has trouble controlling down her temper with difficult customers.
As a young adult, Ember (Leah Lewis) is on the cusp of proving that she's ready to manage the store, but one of her hot-headed outbursts causes Wade Ripple (Mamoudou Athie), an emotional water guy, to get pulled in through the pipes of the foundation of their store. Wade turns out to be a government inspector, who feels duty bound to file a pile of citations, which will close the shop if they go through. Determined to keep the crisis a secret from her aging parents, Ember teams up with Wade to find a way to save the store. During their time together, they encourage each other and start to wonder whether different elements can mix, despite what they've always been taught and eventually fall in love.
I’ve just never been punched in the face with beauty before. -Wade
I came into the movie not knowing what it's about at all. It was such an easy follow and I loved the animation and world-building. A lot of grumpy reviews say that the world-building was kind of lazy, but I completely disagree. They really invited the viewers in with its burst of colors and interesting inventions. I was so amazed.
Cast
Leah Lewis as Ember Lumen
Mamoudou Athie as Wade Ripple
Ronnie del Carmen as Bernie Lumen
Shila Ommi as Cinder Lumen
Wendi McLendon-Covey as Gale Cumulus
Catherine O'Hara as Brook Ripple
A lot of the negative reviews have said that this movie is such a formulaic rom-com, and honestly - why not? It's wonderful to see something some wholesome and good and appeals to children. My teenage sister absolutely loved this movie and we were both crying at the end of it.
I understand everyone was like "wowww Disney so woke," but honestly this really isn't super "woke" as people think it is? Like, there's an allegory about racism in this? Like, that's supposed to be the "wokeness" in the movie? To not treat people differently because of where they come from? Alright?
In the movie, they lean heavily into the not-so-subtle metaphor of the fire elements being the othered group of people in the city. They experience extreme discrimination as fire elements, they're sectioned into their own enclave in the city, and they even speak their own language. The use of the "Immigrant Story" is apparently overused, but why? Isn't that good? We can hear the stories of those who aren't so privileged to have their stories told in the mainstream. We can see the nuance and an insight to people's lives affected by this if you don't come from an immigrant background yourself.
I rated it as 4.5/5 stars on Letterboxd. Listen it's a really cute love story? Why are there so many haters...?
~ an actual fire sign,
<3 K