Elemental - Is It Good or Nah? (Pixar Review)
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- čas přidán 19. 06. 2023
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I honestly pity the director behind this movie because he seems like a nice guy and his parents passed away during the development of Elemental so this film really means a lot to him. Too bad everything went wrong from the marketing to the reviews and now he has both “the good dinosaur” flop and “elemental” flop on his belt making me feel like he will be fire soon.
Edit: Looking back after Elemental's newly found success it's honestly bizarre what the first impressions were back then, (myself included). This is one of the reasons why I try to actively avoid first impressions like this. That being said I'm glad Elemental is doing well and while we don't know if it broke even or not, thanks to other sources of revenue it will still be a profitable film and I do hope this can be a step forward in Pixar's recovery.
should've been fired after the good dinosaur tbh. it's like he's fighting with himself to get the "worst pixar movie ever" title. the good dinosaur is still worse though lol
@@geckopecko he was put as the director of the good dinosaur last minute so I don’t fully blame him for that movie failure.
@@damonlam9145 damn he's just clearly unlucky then
Omg he made that good dinosaur awfulness? He is not getting any sympathy from me
Me too, man.
Like, if the execution wasn't so bland and the marketing competent (Disney puts fake fire hydrants everywhere? Really, that's not a hazard waiting to happen?) it'd be fine, but nope. We got this.
As stated in sabersparks tweet: “Pixar right now really is that straight A student in highschool who is struggling in college. It's like they can't escape the gravitational pull of their own legacy. They need something bold at this point to really shake things up imo or they will be stuck in this limbo”
as that straight A student in high school who is now struggling in college, I can confirm that this is an accurate statement
@@margoalex. same
@@margoalex. Seconded
Fair point
@@margoalex. I was gonna type the same thing...
To be fair, it IS established that Wade can evaporate due to too much heat. Whenever Ember would get near a water person you can see them start bubbling, and I think she even outright says at one point that she could "vaporize" Wade if they touched.
it is very much established lol
It's the most obvious thing in the movie. They didn't make her walk through everyone on the train for nothing. It drives the point home
Yeah, it was a pretty bad take to say it wasn't established when it's obvious to ANYONE who went to a science class.
What is not established is what happens if they do vaporize. There are cloud people. Water doesn't disappear. It cycles. The earth people are actually earth, not plant people. Dirt can put out fire. I don't think the allegory is as bad as people think. We can all hurt or help each other.
Yeah, I don’t think he watched the movie properly if he didn’t caught that
This movie really satisfied me. I don’t need every movie to be a massive, never before seen extravaganza. If I like the characters, and it makes me happy to watch that’s what I care about. This movie did that, and I haven’t smiled so much through a movie in a long time.
That's the perfect way to put it tbh. If we were to dissect it I'm sure the movie has its flaws, but the characters are adorable and it has soul, it made me smile a lot. It's a real guilty pleasure.
Preach, every movie doesn't need to be a masterpiece. I also enjoyed the movie and smiled at the ending.
Exactly, I loved the movie ❤️
The characters are just to die for. I love ember and I loved wade. Everything about there connection and story seemed so genuine and sure like so he boils when they get to close but not when they touch??? But honestly I don't even care. I've never cried over fire and water before. Now I have. And in my opinion wade dying was like really dragged out to the point of like omg is he really dead kinda thing. And honestly they way he was "revived" was really cute and it brought out some emotion for sure.
@@marsrover1330 Nobody is asking for a masterpiece for every movie but doing something that has been done a million times obviously it's getting played out. They marketed this movie as something entirely fresh, when it was a safe plot about different races can be together more or less. Not even close to a new idea, that is what people are talking about. You go into a new movie wanting a new experience not same ole same ole, that becomes boring and predictable. I mean, sure I'm glad you enjoyed it but look at the sales prices, that is what is important, people are sick of lazy writing and cash grabs.
Let’s be honest, it’s not the worst movie Pixar has released, but releasing the last couple of movies straight to streaming hasn’t helped
That wasn’t Pixar’s fault, it was Executives and the Pandemic combined
If only Turning Red was picked for theaters over Lightyear….
@@biazachaIMO Soul should have been the only Pixar movie released to Disney Plus everything after it should have gotten a theatrical release.
I suppose that's why I haven't heard about Pixar movies lately.
I honestly can't even tell with the exceptiin of this one if it is even a Pixar or a Disney Animation movie.
@prowolf633 They did it with Milan too.
They could have at the very least relessed it together like Warner did.
Ever since Zootopia, the discourse around the usage of non humans to depict human stories has certainly been…. Interesting.
At the very least it's not humans as white people and some other thing as the minority... it could always be worse.
i didn't think it could get worse yet here we are
Like Zombies, where the white girl in the third movie basically says "I'm part Italian, I'm oppressed!"
I don't want to imply anything but considering how movies like Green Book won best picture despite it's shallow depiction of racism, with this one it's safe to say that Hollywood specifically a certain demographic can't write brutally honest movie about race without making more sanitsed.
At least that's my perspective
Zootopias was really problematic in its own way. Making a weird parallel between oppressed races and literal predators??
I think this movie was meant to be something comfortable. Something to curl up and watch on the couch when it’s raining rather than taking a bunch of people to see in theaters. Yes, it’s corny and cheesy and some parts of it were lackluster. But I really saw myself in wade and my boyfriend saw himself in Ember. As a daughter of an immigrant, I also connected to embers story and her pressure to fill her fathers shoes. This wasn’t meant to be a movie that shocks and blows people away. It’s more like a warm hug. Something familiar
Then why wasn't it released directly to a streaming site? With a theatrical release, you expect something big and ambitious (or at least not what you're describing)
I watched today on raining evening while having a little flu and comfort food. And it still feels like pretty poor worldbuilding and chemistry between the couple. And forced third act. Even if it had nice feel to it.
That was on spot, i watch it in a comfortable situation and it really does make you feel content after watching it.
I don't get why people don't like this film. I loved it! It was so beautiful visually and heartwarming. Like a feel good rom com but with a MUCH more developed plot, a bunch of set-ups with pay-offs and no unnecessary drama between the lovers. I loved watching these characters together and will definitely be buying this as a DVD to watch on days when I need a good comfort movie. This was the kind of rom com we all need, as well as the Fire girl Water boy headcanon-canon we need.
Honestly I cried through the whole movie. It just made me feel things. And I don't even share the immigrant experience.
I share the exact same thoughs with you!!
First time I saw a glimpse of this movie was actually through a fan Edit, so I guess I was lucky to not see the whole marketing drama, even though I still don't understand what the problem was at all, I guess I didn't really pay attention to that...
But yeah, first time I saw the art style, I was just in love!! Also seeing some parts of the world building, I was really curious about how they accommodate all of the elements and it was even better at the start of movie, it was so much fun discovering the little things about that world building, like how the Air people travel through aircraft that fills up with air when they enter and ends up flying because of that or how they even have their own corner in the trains on the ceiling. It was so cool discovering those small details! Same as how they interact with with other elements, like earth people grow plants on themselves if some water spills on them or how the Air people just splits into cloud parts that come back together when fire walks through them. Yes, I know it may be nothing special, some people would find that obvious, but I have a lot of fun!
And the romance omg! I loved it so much! I did cry like 2/3 of the movie too, I just loved their interactions! Wade may have been portraited as a big crybaby but damn the things he said most of the time were really profound, his empathy to others and his understanding towards Ember's feeling. How he accepted her just the way she was. I loved how they made him so emotional in the movie and for the people saying that he wasn't masculine because of that, I think that you forget about all the things he did for Ember, like allowing her biggest dream come true and see the wisteria Flower, or heck even sacrificing himself at the end for her and he even saved her family's blue fire which he knew meant a lot to her, because it meant so much for her dad and he knew how much she loves her dad. So yeah, it was the most manly acts I saw! It all also made me tear up😭😭😭
And also how Ember learn to deal with her temper thanks to Wade. He helped her realize about her own feeling about her wants and needs and he made her discover a lot of fun stuff, like that air game (yeah sure it was actually all to get Wade's boss not to close down their shop) but she had fun in the end and she was really impressed by Wade's character. Ember's character development was really good! How she finally stopped lying to herself and had to come to terms with her feelings, I loved it!
The movie also showed really good family dynamics in my opinion. Sure there was the whole thing with Ember's dad wanting her to take over the shop, but after Ember told him her true feelings, he explicitly told her it was always about her, not about the shop. He wanted his daughter to be well of, because he and his wife loved her so much, so yeah that father-daughter relationship made me tear up a lot, especially because I also absolutely love my dad.
Same goes to Wade's family, sure we didn't get much screentime for them but from the small interactions between them, you can tell that Wade grew up in a very loving environment.
So yeah, sure there are a lot of small flaws, what movie doesn't have any? But it's a kids movie! And for a kids movie, boy it is quite advanced especially with all those "adult" thematics like immigration, 'family pressure' in case of Ember taking over her dad's shop, there were even that funny adult joke with the two earth people pruning 😂 The metaphors were also well made! And I really liked the humors, the jokes were funny, sure some of them were 'basic' but I still nonetheless laughed a lot at them.
The music was also great.
So yeah for me it was definitely a solid 9,5/10. It was nothing overcomplicated in terms of romance. I thing that Ember and Wade have a very healthy relationship, I've seen so much worse, they made it work in end and Wade is literally just a giant walking green flag.
Elemental became for me a comfort movie and I will also 100% buy the DVD!!! It was such a cute movie, I cried my eyes out🥺🥺🥺😭😭😭
(Back from watching this on Disney plus XD)
Exactly how I feel! It sucks that people are being pretty harsh on this movie.. I understand that Ember might've been hard to connect with because of her specific background but even then I just might be biased cause I am a child of immigrant parents myself-
Same thoughts
It's simple, the same story we've heard a billion times done with Fire and Water people.
It’s one of those films where if you don’t relate and or feel what the characters feel, then it could feel like a generic movie. Maybe
I’ve said this when the trailer came out: We need more stories with elements that don’t just focus on Fire and Water. Air and Earth can potentially make for interesting stories.
Maybe earth needs air and after a massive argument air runs away
You could call it BreathTaken
Ngl I might write this myself. Anyone up for helping
Honestly, they could have included better allegories. Like, imagine if fire girl sees water guy being sent down a sewer system and goes to help him cautiously. When they exit, they find a underground city with periodic table elements instead. This leads to a rag tag adventure where both need to work together to get back to their home city. Maybe they would have to find creative uses of their elements (like making a short boiling of water guy and fire girl's to create steam to contact helium or something. Not too long due to the clashing elements, but enough to get the story along). Leave the relationship ambiguous so it is up to the viewer if they fall in love, so it isn't just an opposites attract story. Maybe have some lore where the periodic table once made up the four elements above ground, but were forced underground for one reason or another (Slowly believing them superior because they can do things the PT Elements can't do alone?)
But that's just a thought that I'm writing here. I hope you're having a great day.
@@ShatteredGlassRoses omg this is actually a banger idea. Can I use it before Disney lmao
🥺
👉👈
In some ways, I honestly think air and earth would like... if you HAVE to make a racism allegory with these guys, those two might genuinely be the better fit? In the sense that you really have to reach in order to find ways that air damages earth, or earth damages air irl (barring, literal natural disasters). But it IS very easy to construct an argument for why they are very different things, and would spawn very different cultures - without being harmful to each other on a molecular level, in a way that undermines the reality of racism that these allegories try to represent (the differences between people are entirely aesthetic and cultural, and have nothing to do with any group biologically being a physical or existential threat).
Like, if I picture an air person next to an earth person - neither of them flags in my mind as an immediate physical threat to the other. But it's at the same time still a strong visual metaphor for cultural and aesthetic differences).
When this movie was Announced the discussion was basically
"Don't judge a book by its cover"
"Then don't make a ugly cover"
pixar is infamously bad at this
@@paisleepunk Yeah... as someone who enjoyed Turning Red, that movie's promotional material did not do it any favors.
@MeatCanyon Shorts 🅥 WHY IS MEATCANYON REPLYING ON THIS RANDOMLY AHH COMMENT
@@liketrainslol420funni its a bot
@@liketrainslol420funni because it isn't the actual meatcanyon it's some else
Tbh I loved this movie, the glass breaking was a cool way to show Ember not being able to handle all that emotional pressure. It's an adorable movie, solid 7.5/10 for me
ikr it's so relatable in terms of emotional damage, like the meme or not, it's real.
Yeah I loved the movie for what it was ^^❤
It was made to tug at heart strings and it definitely did that
It worked on emotion and showing ways to express them
apparently Schaffrillas forgot science when making the puns because pressure builds over time, especially water pressure, just like emotional pressure
also this movie is probably my favorite movie, i loved it just from the trailers
As a person who saw absolutely no marketing for this film at all and saw it on a whim just for something to do, I ended up really loving it. Sure it wasn’t the most profound metaphor, but it was simple and heartwarming. Not every movie needs to be brilliant and artsy. And the plot actually had a natural, good structure. (Unlike movies that are critically acclaimed like Encanto, but don’t get me started.)
You had me until you insulted Encanto
Elemental being released around the same time as Spider-Verse was automatically a death sentence honestly
Edit: This comment aged like milk in the hot summer sun
It's almost like they were thinking Clod was Engame level
Box office didn’t do great but aye Disney is balling at least🤷🏻♂️🥴 lol
Every single Disney film so far has been a money printer. Spiderverse was an amazing film but don't let that detract you from the real reasons why this film failed. This is just a flop for three reasons:
1. Bad marketing. Barely anyone knew this film even existed.
2. Ridiculously high budgets. Spider-Verse cost half as much to make as much as this movie. It is gosh darn stupid how expensive these films are.
3. The trailer did not paint a good picture for the movie. I'm gonna be honest the second the trailer came out it looked like hot garbage. It's a good looking movie but the trailer makes the film so generic and cliched that I totally forgot it was a thing until the news came out that it bombed hard.
@@justaguyonhere The theater when clod:
@@nathandam6415Yeah, the trailers for this movie somehow managed to show every cliche that was in the movie, really made me want to actively avoid seeing it
I'm so happy that Fireboy and Watergirl finally got a movie after all these years.
So happy for their transition
Ong, & I don't even mind the genderwap. 🔥💧
Ngl I would pay to see an Indiana Jones styled Fireboy and Watergirl movie
But this time it's waterboy, and firegirl
@@XParasiteOctoling yes that would be amazing
I absolutely LOVED the story! I think the struggle between Ember’s want to pursue the arts versus her want to run the store and please her dad will resonate with many people who were raised with a high-pressure household.
I personally really liked the relationship ember and Wade had. I don't know to me it seemed a bit more realistic than some of the other movies I've seen but that's just my opinion
I thought it was unrealistic how their big romantic moments were mostly in front of their parents, they didn’t seem to have interests in common, Ember didn’t seem to like him very much romantically based on dialogue, and it moved too fast to love.
It’s more realistic in some ways, but the romance of this movie just isn’t for me.
Wade’s introduction is almost *too* bad, he doesn’t listen to Ember at all until she breaks down from the stress, which makes the entire chase scene feel pointless and their introduction less impactful.
Introducing one of the leads this way makes me dislike them. I didn’t like Wade for most of this movie, he didn’t have much to offer other than mentioning his father and being very emotional, which was interesting to watch! But doesn’t excuse the issues I had
For a movie with this big of a budget, with beautiful designs and animations, it not outlandish to expect one of the main aspects of the movie to start out well written. But, at least for me, it didn’t quite cut it
@@sarasamaletdin4574I agree! I think their romance would’ve been much more believable if they actually including things they *BOTH* enjoy and bond over.
All we know is that Ember makes glass. Wade doesn’t have any hobbies mentioned, or likes or dislikes, he’s just there to be the other lead, which makes me care about him a LOT less than Ember who is much more relatable!
@@sarasamaletdin4574Perhaps you need to do a better job at picking up on social cues then
Actually Schaffrillas, there is a scene where Wade and Ember both pass through a metal gate and ask "What are these even here for?". The answer is to discriminate against Earth people because Fire, Water, and Air can all easily avoid the gate.
Either that or it's just poor world-building that is handwaved away with a cheap joke.
I haven't seen the movie, so correct me if there is something I'm missing, but I've seen this scene in the trailers. When I saw it, I just interpreted it as a gag lampshading the fact that in this universe, fences shouldn't even be there because they are useless against air, water and fire. This interpretation that it's to prevent specifically earth people is neat, though, and it makes me wish the worldbuilding explored details like that more
I have a feeling that the race allegory is probably meant to reference south africa during it's apartheid period (1948-1991 or 94 depending on how you look at it or who you ask)
@@talhahhussain5603so, lampshading?
You're thinking too much about it
Making a racism allegory using things that will LITERALLY DESTROY EACHOTHER IF THEY MEET, is a bad idea. I honestly like the characters and the animation is great but the plot is lackluster.
take it you haven't actually seen the movie yet? they address that
@@keyscored3710 yeah this guy's comparison was dumb. The entire idea was that they were afraid that was gonna happen the entire time, but they were actually perfectly fine for each other. It was an irrational fear and they were able to hold hands and dance together and kiss. It's actually an excellent allegory for real racism; we other each other, but in reality interracial relationships will not destroy us in the way that's it often presented, exactly how it was in the movie.
They address that in the movie. The entire thing is a metaphor to how some people view Race as opposites and believe in segregation and they should be apart because of differences but in the end the movie shows they work perfectly together
Me when I haven't watched the movie and willfully spread misinformation for likes.
Romeo and Juliet =/= Race Allegory
There were surprisingly a good number of jokes about death. I felt bad for laughing my ass off when Wade’s brother asked “Will you die if you fall in water?”
Kids are unhinged 🤣
They manage to have the movie generally bright and cheery while having some pretty dark bits sprinkled all over
I think it’s easier to connect to the characters and the story when you’re also an immigrant. I was born in Vietnam and came here when I was only a couple months old. Knowing how hard my parents worked for me and my siblings and also understanding that I am not American made this movie really hit home for me.
Also the parent being able to respect and give his blessing by bowing at the end made me tear up. Maybe something about our different cultures can make this scene more impactful than it seems to others. If you grew up in the US and never had to deal with parents that couldn’t show various love languages and always had that support, then I can see why this movie didn’t work or have an impact that it did on me.
Both me and my wife truly enjoyed this movie. Recommend it.
I think it is easy to connect to the characters if they are well written and you have an open heart to the story. I am no immigrant, I've never been to a bi-racial relationship, nor I have faced prejudice due my skin color, but I cared about Amber and Wade, and I cared about Amber's conflict with her father. I also recognized her fhather's strugle to give his family a good life and be true to his roots.
Just my take that a good story is for everyone to share and learn.
My bf and I are a bi racial couple and my parents have been through hell for me. The movie hit so close to home and we loved it. My bf was cheering when the Ember and Wade kissed! 😂
Yes, I connected well with these characters despite having a family situation that wasn't similar as either of them. IMO, the movie did a good job of showing what they were feeling and how their backgrounds lead to them becoming the people they are and making the decisions they made; it was easy to understand how they were feeling even if you haven't gone through it yourself. That scene at the end with the dad and daughter both bowing to each other, knowing just how much that gesture meant in their culture especially within the context of the dads relationship with *his* father, made me cry too!
It's sad to see so many people calling the movie bad because they didn't relate to it; you shouldn't have to have gone through something similar to connect with the struggles and experiences of others; that was half the point of the movie!
I always find it funny if movies try to equate racism with characters with actual born negative and positive traits.
Like, the issue with racism isnt to find a way to deal with the destructive nature of a race. Its to understand there ISNT a significant difference.
My thought exactly. Racial discrimination is wrong because the differences are surface and not substantial. But Fire and Water are fundamentally different in every way and not just appearance. You don’t swim or drink fire and you don’t burn things with water. They can’t do the same things, unlike humans of different races.
I think this is the answer. It's all in one's head, there's no difference between different races other than appearance and the way society/culture treats them. That's literally it.
@@cloverlucky5977 sure, but that’s literally the opposite of Elemental. Water and fire are very, very different. So people who treat them different are correct and not “racist”.
@@choreomaniaczootopia did the same shit.
There are legitimate reasons for prey animals to be afraid of predators.
Equating that to human racism completely misses the point.
@@salvadorHombreo be fair to Zootopia, if the line between predator and prey as shown in the movie was reasonable, there is no way it would be drawn where it was. Like, I get "primal instinct" or whatever, but I'd infinitely more afraid of what an elephant could do to me than a fox or an eagle.
I haven’t seen the movie myself, but that part about how the city isn’t designed with fire people in mind makes it sound like this setting would’ve been better for an ableism allegory. You wouldn’t even need to make direct parallels to certain disabilities because the message of “my environment isn’t compatible with my needs” is still easy to do. Maybe the different segments of the city are all designed for people of their element to travel through, but it’s too difficult for other elements.
After thinking about it, yeah - the worldbuilding seems a lot more suited for a disability rather than a racism story.
If you're in North America, you don't need to watch a movie to understand that, try going 24 hours without using a car
@@user-cx9nc4pj8w ...Buddy that's not ableism
@@user-cx9nc4pj8wTell me you've never met a handicapped person without telling me you haven't met a handicapped person.
@jlev1028 how? Before I was disabled, I loved to walk everywhere. Now, I need a car or public transit to get anywhere because I get around with a cane (used to be a wheelchair and it was even worse)
I'm in an interracial relationship, it's kinda a phenomenal movie I cried for about 60% of it.
I resonated with all of it, it's really such a shame that not many people have seen it.
Edit:
Just saying I think that the fact the the immigrant family are just fire people, it makes it FAR MORE relatable to a wider variety of ethic cultures
Clearly Chinese inspired but also has bits and pieces of lots and lots of different cultures, my background is Indian and I can't stop thinking about this movie, I really wish more people liked this.
I really do actually, as an Asian (not quite poor or rich) ... Ember is so likely the culture we have, hard working parents and sacrificing thier lives to us so we only need to do is to depends our lives to them too, but not so much because we have our own choices and dreams too. But for me, i don't recommend this for kids, but as an adult, this is a masterpiece and adore this movie so much
I think it only resonates to those who had to fight their parents on having the interracial relationship. I was in one before but it never felt like a big deal until she mentioned we'd always be stared at. But even then, I never noticed or cared. It was only the older folk who would stare. I feel like my generation should be the one to eradicate these unnecessary racial biases. Unfortunately we're still far from it if the media keeps making a big deal about it
Just finished watching the movie in latin spanish dub and it's beautiful
I initially thought it was Indian inspired but the writers background was Korean. I honestly think they left it ambiguous so any of the Asian cultures could resonate with it.
I would say it’s more Turkish inspired
I gave it a chance and really ended up liking it. I'm glad I got something out of this movie. Wade and Ember were really cute. If you didn't like it, then that's fine too.
I feel the issue with allegory is that it works when its short and to the point like most old fables. When you make full length movies or shows with non-human characters to try and make a parallels, you run into the issue that the characters just aren't human. On a fundamental level the two are different, and this often leads to only a surface level. "prejudice exists" yeah ok but thats a world of a difference between two humans being racist and like fire and water not being able to mix, or herbivore and carnivores furry characters. When its a short story about talking animals to teach a lesson, the fact they are animals doesnt actually matter to that fable.
yea
You clearly haven’t seen good stories before then
@@mrchung ?:7
What about George Orwell’s Animal Farm?
Clearly, you have not watched enough Star Trek.
Almost every single episode has an allegory where they tackle a problem in human society. And most all of these problems use alien races to make the point a bit easier to digest.
honestly i was not expecting Schaff to review it, but i’m happy he did anyways
edit: jeez you guys no need to keep flaming me. I said that because in his spiderverse video he didn’t want to review elemental so i naturally assumed he wasn’t gonna watch the movie
bro always delivers
@@Follow641congrats you played yourself
I did
Really? You were not expecting someone who makes no secret about how big a Disney fan he is to NOT review this?
Why the fuck did you not expect him to review it lol
I’m not an immigrant, I have live in the country of my ancestors all my life but I still related to Ember’s relationship with his father. When he comforts her about she being his legacy and not the shop I saw myself choosing Architecture over taking over my dad’s small business, it was wonderful. Also the love story between Ember and Wade was so cute 😊
I loved it so goddamn much! I love how emotional Wade is while Ember has a temper. Their romance is so pure, not forced like a lot movies.
A lot of people are complaining that because they don’t have hobbies in common, it’s forced but I’ve been with the same woman for 15 years and aside from general morals, we have very little in common so this makes sense for me. Sometimes enjoying each others company is all you need.
@@ChuckFinelyForever I never really believed in you can only be successfully in love with someone whom you share the same hobbies with. My parents are total opposites, but they are madly in love.
@@plobclop It’s like people don’t think love existed before the 21st century, couples didn’t really share interests outside of having children very often in the past. You don’t need to both enjoy spelunking to have an attraction to each other, chemistry is a bit more deep than that.
This was probably the first Pixar movie that I saw where I thought to myself “Yeah, I’m too old for this” Which is a shame, since I really wanted to like it in spite of the bad marketing.
Honestly the thing I’m worried about most is where Pixar is heading towards, considering their string of box office bombs and mixed audience reception.
I missed Pixar when they made good surreal story telling.
Ouch. That's rough.
Yeah… It’s a shame seeing Pixar putting out so many painfully ok films when we know they are capable of making masterpieces. The last great film they did was Coco, and that was 6 years ago.
@@Marksman3434don't like Soul?
@@Amexy-mr6lw Not many did.
For me, it would’ve been cool if they mentioned that Ember’s art only stayed together/strong when she was happy. The more unhappy she was, the more her glasswork suffered. Idk, I just think that concept would’ve made the 3rd act climax work. They would just have to explain how her art is still connected to her
I think that was clearly implied with the cracks appearing whenever she was especially distressed. I would have felt talked down to if they explained it that directly
Maybe, but the only thing that that could’ve helped with would be the whole dam plothole. Like, the thing got destroyed and the story concluded without a formal solution to that problem. So, maybe a bigger outlook on how Ember’s emotions affected the barrier could have aided to close that storyline. Other than that, I have to say that I really loved and enjoyed the movie thoroughly.
i swear to god i have seen you talk about this exact same thing on another video
@@rory9565 me? This is the only video on elemental I’ve commented on lol
Given that glass is composed of the Earth element (sand and potash)... could've worked in a surprise rock villain at least who sabotaged it, furious that he didn't get the credit for building the city... since every single solid material in the place would be Earth-based.
Seriously, Pixar didn't even fully grasp the concepts the movie was based on.
I just watched Elemental and honestly I really liked it! I am surprised so many people thought it was bad and that it got bad reviews. The animation was beautiful, the characters fun, and the plot was interesting. I love the creativity behind the culture of each element. The fact that they invented a language for the fire elements, Fireish, and that it is based on the sounds that fire makes, is so cool. However, I feel that they could have added much more to the plot but instead it was too focused on Ember and Wade, which was not bad and I understand that adding too many details to the the plot could have been overwhelming. Overall, the movie was surprisingly good and better than I expected. I can't wait until it comes out in Disney Plus to watch it again!
I actually really liked the movie! Even though I’m not really an immigrant the story really touched me and I thought they balanced the two aspects of the movie well. I disagree that the plot with the father was unnecessary, for me that was what saved the movie cause I thought it was JUST going to be a romance. But the romance plot was better than I expected too! Also the climax did land for me. Call me dumb but I was actually really invested 😅
The father conflict was definitely necessary, because she needs to change. To be with Wade but also to grow as a person. His father represent the past, putting pressure in to keeping the "status quo" and play safe. But sometimes you need to change to really grow as a person (or as an Element).
The race allegory doesn’t work when they are on the molecular level, incompatible.
Stories about racism work because fundamentally, all the races are the same and coexist every day with no problems. It worked with zootopia because it was a world where they already exist together despite their differences they face and it was outside forces from hateful people and unaddressed biases that made the tensions work. When the fire person could be completely extinguished by a water person just hugging them or an earth person just fell on them, that doesn’t work.
Eilo looks pretty cool though and it’s plot is so neat, I really hope it can be a great standalone movie like soul or Luca was.
why am i seeing you in every elemental review lol
Honestly I agree with the Elio part. I haven't seen Elemental yet, and I might as well just wait for it on Disney+ because I'm just spending this month to see Spider-Verse every other day. But Elio really does look special. Elemental really should've been something different than what Pixar has been making lately, but it just didn't for the reasons Schaff pointed out. Elio, while it's animation does look similar to Luca and Turning Red (which I hope it won't be scorned at) still looks very pleasing and childlike, which makes sense since our protagonist is a child. So overall, I'm hyped for Elio! Wish I could say the same for Elemental
Man Ember literally burned the leaves off an earth person too
i agree except zootopia’s race allegory didnt work in the sense that PREDATORS, are stand in for minorities, he even acknowledged this in one of his videos
@@cometleijon964Well that’s exactly how Minorities are viewed in a lot of different countries and places so I don’t get the issue
I liked it. It could be because I'm Korean. Ember's reaction and excuse "elements don't mix" could stem from the fact that Korea is one of the most monoethnic countries, which often stigmatizes mixed raced marriages. I love the fact that Ember and her family were represented with fire, as spicy Korean food was a trend within recent days. I also appreciated the fact that Ember's father's store reminded me of little city towns, like Koreatown in LA. I personally connected with this movie, especially being a second generation Korean American who wants to pursue careers that aren't what my parents want. Imma be honest tho, I sobbed, because Ember's father's message at the end is what I wished my parents would say, as the guilt of not fulfilling to my parent's sacrifice of immigration and hard work they went through to create opportunities to me is overwhelming. The metaphor of Ember's breaking point throughout the whole film with the pipes is so relatable it really touched me. I do understand this is a movie that not everyone can understand, but I loved it too much for me to not comment on it. I would recommend it to my other fellow second gen immigrants 100%
By all means, though, this movie is not perfect. The flaws are there, and very prominent at times. But the love in this movie is just overflowing. I did not like all the characters (especially Clod the grass guy or whatever) but I do love the similarities and accuracy of characters like Ember's mother, who is very accurate to Korean Ajumas, and especially Ember's father. He reminds me so much of my own father, and it may be confusing to understand why they may behave certain ways, but its good to understand that their childhood, and their parents childhoods were hell. The maturity Ember's father has may not be realistic to every Korean father, or fathers at all, but his intentions is what made it relatable.
To anyone reading this, I apologize, I'm being very specific towards Korean parents and families, but I do think that was the intention of the director with Ember's family.
i'm not even korean, im pakistani, but i also really relate to it. like the entire interracial marriage WAS SO RELATABLE HOLY CRAP. i mean its literally considered taboo to even like any foreigners. the entire family dynamic is also very relatable tbh. it reminded me of desi culture xD, esp. the "getting to do what you want is a luxury" line was sooo relatable!!! it was definitely not top tier, but i have to say that the couple was super cute. i really liked alot of scenes and the movie was enjoyable overall.
alsoo sorry for my bad english :') its not my first language
@@zainab_hashmiii Your english was perfect! I enjoyed the movie a lot, and I'm glad that I'm not the only one! :)
For me, as an asian, this story really touched my heart. I am korean, just like the director Peter Sohn, and I found myself crying at the end. Not at Wade's magical revival, but at the Dad fighting with Ember.
This is the real asian family experience. The themes of generational trauma of trying to give your children you never had and the child suffering from the weight of those expectation, it was very relatable for many asians. I also like the American Dream concept. It is historically accurate that in the 70s and 80s, many koreans went abroad to work very physically demanding jobs to provide for their families. My grandfather for one, spent 20 years in the middle east as an electric engineer, and often worked 12 to 15 hour workdays for meager pay.
In the end, the show is about the immigrant experience. To clarify, I do not consider myself asian american. I did immigrate here a few years ago but I am not like most asian americans in the sense that I was born in america and raised here. Hence, my thoughts are probably vastly different from most other asian americans. However, I could still see the cultural similarities between these two groups and the relatable themes.
The last thing is how it addresses racism. I've seen reviews that the movie is too leftist and woke because of it, and I am baffled. Why should it feel radical to talk about a deacades long social injustice that has taken numerous lives? This shouldn't be an a opinion shared only among a specific group of people, it should be basic humanity and morals. Not to mention that the racism is also a part of the asian american experience. It might not be as obvious as racism towards black people, but it is still racism. I got called ching chong, people avoided me because they thought I was the covid virus, people pulled back their eyes at me, etc. Asian american hate does exist. It does not get the same media coverage and most people think the worst of it is getting called names on the street, but it is not. Asian women are f3tishised, asians are killed and beaten for our skin color, etc. You cannot keep gaslighting us into thinking our struggles don't exist. We are not the docile model minority myth. We are ready to stand up for ourselves and this movie addresses that perfectly. To see the same xenophobia and racism was refreshing and heartwarming.
I know that for other racial groups, it will be hard to relate to the same things. However, for me, it was a special moment. It was a movie that felt authetic to asians and not a cash grab that only claimed to promote diversity to make money. I loved that asian creatives got a chance to work on this and reflect on their own past for inspiration. While it was a bit corny storywise, it was in my opinion much better than the inclusivity and authentic preaching movies that disney has been putting out lately. Read raya and mulan 2020 😂😂
Dang that’s a lot of
nah
n the part where him giving up his life for the family can only be repayed by giving up her life too. oh my god. that’s how i feel always
agreed, I've literally never seen a kids movie talk about immigration and as a 1 gen immigrant there *is* a lot of stress to be successful as payment. its relatable asf
There is no such thing as "generational trauma." You just have abad relationship with your parents.
It’s actually such a good movie. It’s so cute and pure, and depicted such real and raw emotions.
Exactly the romance was so authentic
Wow, you have no taste. At best, they have the chemistry of friends. Also, you being cute and pure doesn’t mean it’s good, it’s just an easily digestible product.
@@egbertmilton4003 What's wrong with easily digestible product? And based on what many ppl commented here, this movie has more layers for a viewer to digest on different levels of depth too. You just don't like the concept, some ppl do. To say this movie has zero creativity is a bit stretching.
@@egbertmilton4003"wow, you have no taste" a pretty bold and really rude saying tbh
“Wow you have no taste” is the shittiest yet funniest take I’ve ever seen in a yt comment section
I think what is turning out to be one of the biggest restrictions for Pixar is that they have to stay victim to the "It has to work out in the end" trope of kids movies. Like, I felt that Soul had such a poinient ending that taught the stages of grief and accepting death, but then, they had to go and put him back on Earth in what felt like a corporate edit to make the movie "kid friendly"
The scene where he comes to terms with his life and finds peace as he moved on was beautiful exactly as you said. Until some corporate asshat who doesn’t understand anything was like. Kids can’t see a sad ending!
Yeah, but that was at least somewhat acceptable since Joe's entire character arc would've been for nothing if all he did was move on to the afterlife at the end. At least, in the PG ending, Joe can use the lessons he learnt to good use and live life to the fullest. Elementals just looks so sanitized and for kids, I wanna give it a chance but I'm skeptical if it's actually worth my time.
Definitely. Soul was really close to being a great movie.
I actually went into this movie blind enough that they had me wondering if the big twist was that he really would die (mostly because it felt such a blatant copout for him not to). That could have been a great direction to take it, but no, we can't have nice things
poignant
I think Elemental is the only Pixar movie that I reeeeeaaally split on how I feel about it. Like, it has a major good and bad side, but they have an even split. Also the Osmosis Jones joke killed me
I agree with you on that (Your opinion on Element not the Osmosis Jones joke)
@JustAnotherIdiotOnTheInternet Why not? It's a banger, lmao
@@themoviecritic1092 real, I used to be obsessed with that movie- I hyper-fixated on it for like a month LMAO
Osmosis Jones x Flame Princess is now a thing
@@J410T1 It's amazing, of course I would
been waiting to see elemental to watch your review on it and 7:53 caught me so off guard that's my art 😭
Wow sucks he didn't credit you, not even in the description
4:29 As an artist working in that background, I really think that's the KEY to a meh/good/unforgettable Pixar production. And it all circles back to one of animation/Pixar's top rules, the synecdoche: the part to represent the whole. Often having an explosive amount of information diminishes the power of the real message or important characters, thus prioritizing the simplification of 'background' elements in favor of the main events.
The thing is that this statement is often mistaken with a, quote on quote -let's just focus on a catchy plot with a little bit of relatability and add some extras in the postprod rendering process-. Having complex stories, and thus INNOVATIVE and creative outtakes, is crucial, but its is of most importance having it in the first place. You cannot simplify what is already too simple, can you? And if it is already too simple (yet still a good idea) you ought not to simplify it, just show it as it is. Of course, at a kid's eye, those 'story holes' are not of much importance, but technically/creative wise, is fundamental to the outcome. As a result, we often find ourselves looking at the productions and thinking 'it seemed a little lazy'.
Hyperrealistic rendering is NOT the substitute to the lack of real creative work, and that has been the problem with animation studios over the last decade. The new programs and softwares currently used in this places are breathtaking, but that's not really an excuse to undermine the story and create great plots that explore more than just the idealized human experience (that said, apply new endings, even if that means using death). Nowadays, it seems as if Pixar progressively tries to depict more and more real and harsh life aspects (racism, Asian experience in the west, immigration, cultural differences...), but never achieves to make a deep reflection out of it, thus staying in a weird limbo between an often overstimulating rendering and a plot that does not live up to the expectations created.
In Ratatouille, for example, it was not needed to create a whole new world (much different from the real human one), as the rat characters were supposed to be a PART of that world. Pixar could have created a only-rat world, explored all the classism and prejudice plot devices situating the characters in a new planet, just for them, but they did not. That was a creative decision, a very correct and problem-solving one, plot-wise. It made the story harmonic, it gave the opportunity to add even more dynamism, it made the appearance of very human-like elements MAKE SENSE.
When in these new productions Pixar show us otherworldly characters, with whole new worlds, they do not even try to find the human in the non obvious, they shamelessly depict very human constructions/behaviors/routines that could possibly have nothing to do with the type of society they try to portray.
I wish they went with more of a periodic table element style. Would’ve like, brought so many new ideas.
Astatine ruins everything: the movie
“sir is that uranium?”
Uranium and Tungsten people coming together to create a demon baby
b-but plutonium has to fall in love and hug in the end with plutonium, so what if it ends the city and explodes, it’s true love 🥺🥺🥺
hate to be that person but I'm making a comic about periodic elements‼️ (if you wanna read it lol)
I feel the reason people were so particularly harsh toward Elemental due to its generic plot (in comparison to other generic stories in the past) is that back in the day, mediocre pixar films would be more considered exceptions than the norm. In today's context the generic story is more indicative of Disney and Pixar's continuing spiral into mediocrity.
Yeah. I keep using this metaphor, but it's as if Pixar is frozen in the freezer of their best years.
Yeah it's akin to being in a plane with a little kid lightly kicking your seat every minute. It's easy to ignore at first but each subsequent kick gets more and more annoying until you snap. And Pixar has the added issue of people expecting better of them on top of that. Elemental just had the misfortune of being the kick that made the public snap.
If lined up, Pixar had a fair amount of highs and lows...and started high narratively and historically.
I do feel folks brushed off this premise too easily, as if you can't have fun even when the plot's obvious. This movie stills holds up as something from their studio, just not this genre breaking standard that we set. And yeah, there's now more animated competition that ever, Pixar isn't as standout anymore.
It's not "mediocrity" it's garbage and it's been garbage for well over a decade now.
@@mrcool1519You've never saw a truly garbage movie haven't you?
I just saw the movie and thought it was pretty good, it was a breath of fresh air after Lightyear, I liked how Wade and Ember take advantage of their water and fire physics to do things and I was really immersed in the love story.
The "saving the shop from being flooded" seems more like a subplot than a main plot which is what I feel like the love story mainly is. When Ember and Wade were trapped in the room while it was flooding outside, with Ember desperately avoiding water, Wade evaporating and them getting emotional, I thought they were gonna pull a Tin Soldier and have them both die. I admit Wade "dying" and coming back to life did feel clichéd but I enjoyed the movie nonetheless. The fire town music sounded like the China town music from Turning Red on steroids. Whenever a movie could've been better, something I feel could maaaybe fix it or improve is (hear me out) a sequel, like for example if some problem or element (pun not intended) from the first movie wasn't quite done well or resolved, the sequel could pick up where it left off. Similar to how in Across the Spiderverse, they show Miles and Gwen's relationship (or friendship since people think that Gwen might be bi not that it closes the possibility) grow from the first movie which wasn't technically unfinished, more like improved. Not that I want it but a Lightyear sequel could have better worldbuilding.
2 B honest I kinda wish they did pull a Tin Soldier ending but it's still good. 7/10
Also it's kinda funny how they canonicaly never fix Alpha's talking collar in the Up short.
one of my favorite pixar movies to me. everything sat really well with me i enjoyed the pacing, and honestly i blew past any of the issues with this movie and just had fun. this movie resonated with my family's culture, and made us cry more then it should have.
I thought Zootopia's world design was better suited to the various animals, the world design doesn't really seem to fit the elements in this world. Robots also did better at world design and the message.
Agreed
Robots was great. I really wanted a sequel. Too bad it wasn't very popular and R.I.P Blue Sky😔
Well in Robots there’s BIGWELD
@@Bloody_Ingenious I mean its kinda fine the way it was
Robots was honestly *really good* at making its worldbuilding and underlying classism critique work.
I actually liked it. Ember and Wade’s relationship was cute. But the world building needed more
IDK, I didn’t really see any problems with the world building ?
But yes Ember and Wade’s relationship was very well developed and I saw the chemistry
@@RB01.10 I just wish we saw more cloud and plant people!
@@RB01.10 Imo, it does the lazy version of worldbuilding where they took our regular world and slapped fantasy on top of it as if that doesn't change anything. Like, they make a joke about that fence in the trailer, but... like... why IS that fence there? Why build a fence like that when 3/4 of races can move through it no problem? Are they trying to avoid specifically Earth people getting in? What does that imply about their world?
And why don't they have specialised transportation for each race? How does Ember's headphones not melt off her head? Why doesn't most everything she uses not melt or burn? It may sound nitpicky, but imagine how COOL it would be to see all these devices in place adapted to the elemental people - different transportation, different styles of clothing adapted to different bodies etc. That's what makes a really memorable fantasy world from a boring one imo.
Yeah, I cried watching it but that's just cause I'm a emotional person lol, I really enjoyed parts of it but yeah all critiques people are making are valid
Cute is the best word I can think of to describe this movie.
The way their families acted as they met them made me feel some real 'aw's
I really liked this movie! It’s definitely predictable, but there’s a lot of heart to it. i liked how their relationship was built from a place of understanding and friendship instead of it being rushed through. It isn’t something you haven’t seen but it’s very sweet
I’m Filipino and remember watching this. Idk how anyone can hate it. Either you cannot relate to having immigrant parents or grandparents struggling in a new country where you can’t be accepted by others, never experienced racism before, never felt like you need to put your parents happiness over yours due to worry of being disowned, never experienced your family telling you that you cannot “mix” (meaning you are only allowed to date/marry someone the same race as you), or just lack the puzzle building skills and sympathy to get the movie.
I kinda feel bad because i've never felt so disinterested in watching a movie from any major animated studio than this one. I just don't care to even attempt watching this, i'm so apathetic to it. Still hope this movie doesn't discourage pixar from making originals (seems like it doesn't with the newly announced movie), but i just do not care at all. Respect to the animators because the way they animated the constant movement of the elements is impressive
I get that feeling. Though maybe all the negative media surrounding it certainly helps. Puss in Boots 2 was something I really didn’t care about seeing until all the hype reviews came out for it. Prior to the film’s release, barely anyone said anything about it.
The new pixar movie coming next year looks terrible to be honest
This is exactly how I feel about it.
I can't blame you. For me personally a movie needs to have something going for it to grab my attention. This movie however feels like an animated short you'd find on youtube, not a whole dang full-lenght film, and I've seen animated shorts with a more interesting concept than "Elements if they were humanized woop woop".
Also I'd like to point out how the movie also has nonsensical world building. Like if elements can't mix then why do they all have to use the same train? Also why is the air element represented as clouds? This makes no sense because clouds are air mixed with water so it really goes against the whole "elements cannot mix" rule.
I haven't watched the movie but as what i've seen, I feel like they never explain why the elements can't mix (unless they do and I'm just not aware but I'd love to be corrected hete)
Same, i went to the cinema with my gf like a month ago and ee saw the poster and just thought of the meme "ok but how old is water" and that's it, didn't even remember this movie was coming out and not even moving a finger to go and watch it to support originals
I honestly feel so bad for Peter Sohn, first Good Dinosaur and now Elemental. Elemental clearly came from more of a place or passion than any of Good Dinosaur, and it’s sucks it’s bombing like this. At least he’s a good voice actor.
the dude that made the good dinosaur got hired for another movie??? how??????
@@spagootest2185maybe they wanted to give him a second chance at redemption? Idk
@@spagootest2185Good Dinosaur went through multiple directors, he was simply the last one, with little time before it had to be released. It seems unfair to pin the blame on him rather than the general mismanagement of the movie
Yeah, blaming Peter Sohn for the Good Dinosaur is like blaming Ron Howard for Solo. In both cases the job was to salvage a flawed half-finished project as much as possible to save it from being cancelled.
If they were willing to fire the woman that literally saved toy story 2, then I don’t have much hope for him
5:50 I think what happened was he saw Wade sacrificed his life for Ember
It was a fake out.
I loved elementals, it made me cry a few times. Im a sucker for romance comedies so this was right up my alley.
I'm Korean. I havent watched Elemental yet, but from what I've seen in Korean communities the reception has been EXTREMELY positive! A lot of points brought up by Koreans who watched the movie was that Ember's story was 100% accurate to the Korean immigrant experience, as well as Korean culture and family dynamics in general.
One thing that especially stuck out to me was the "elements don't mix" line; I saw a lot of memes about that line in western communities, but in Korean communities its considered very relatable. Even I, who only watched the trailer, was able to resonate with that line because of how well it relates to Korean culture! For context: In Korea, its been considered taboo to marry a foreigner for a fairly long time. Mixed couples have thankfully become more accepted recently, but even now, its common for older generations to tell their childern/grandchildren to "not marry a non-Korean" and "keep the family heritage".
Might edit this comment once I get to watch the movie in a few days, but I just wanted to share a Korean''s perspective of the movie since the director is also Korean and the cultural influences are rlly clear lol
EDIT: so i didnt see elemental on theatres bc i decided to watch spiderverse for the 3rd time last minute💀 no regrets tho, might watch it as a vod
Edit 2: just watched the film, and id give it a 8/10! It's definitely not one of "Pixar's bests", but it was still very fun and heartwarming. Ember's struggle was relatable on a personal level, from the "achieving my parents' dream" thing to the racism allegories.
I also really enjoyed Wade, surprisingly! From the trailers I expected him to just be a crybaby who just goes "believe in yourself", but he turned out to be really complex as well.
Not to mention, firegirl and waterboy's romance was also very well-handled and heartwarming to watch. It wasn't anything groundbreaking, but honestly, it didnt need to be; i still enjoyed following their journey together.
The movie definitely wasn't perfect; I could spot some flaws from the get-go, and the worldbuilding also had some missed potential. But in my opinion, that didnt take away the overall enjoyment of the movie! Definitely would recommend👌
A story about the immigration experience is fine, the bad thing about the movie is the allegory, immigrants/minorities are represented as literally harmful people, the fire people can burn the earth people by just touching them and boil the water people so it's like the movie is saying being racist can save your life. In the movie there's a garden for earth people with a sign that says "no fire people are allowed " it's meant to be racist but it's actually not because if a fire person walks in they can literally burn the entire thing. That's why the movie is really bad representing immigrants /minorities as made of fire and harmful to everyone around them is a really bad allegory.
Instantly though of some Korean people I knew when as I watched through the beginning but then you start to realize it's really just a mix about any immigrant family story. Absolutely loved it all! I think people looking too deep into the allegory stuff. In the end theyre elementals after all so they have to follow the rules of physics but idk it made for some funny situations as well lol like just take it as it is and focus on the bigger picture.
THIS IS WHAT IVE BEEN TRYING TO SAY!!! It isn't a story about racism, it's a story about immigration and xenophobia. I'm a child of Mexican immigrants, and this movie was super relatable! Americans just have to learn that if you don't relate to it, it doesn't mean everyone doesn't.
@@alenezi989a3again. You‘re one of those people criticizing the movie without having watched it. In the end it turns out that doesn’t happen and they were worrying over nothing.
@lb8489 don't they say vote with your wallet? I don't like the movie the story didn't seem interesting at all, it's just west side story which was repeated a million times before, and on top of that they have a the bad allegory in the movie, I don't want to watch it or support it. Besides I watched alot of reviews and basically all of them confirmed my feelings, maybe it's a just fine movie but to me that's not worth the movie tickets price.
Honestly it’s a guilty pressure. I really enjoyed it. It has a lot of flaws, but honestly it was just ADORABLE. At most it’s a 7/10, but that’s pushing it. But I’ll be watching it more for the character interactions. Wade and Ember is a really good combo. They both are really likable, and they both have a certain charisma to them. That and some of the scenes are just so sweet!! It’s cute, but it’s not perfect.
I haven't seen the movie, but just by watching the clips, the movie looks good and sweet with full fledged characters.
I just watched it yesterday and this is exactly what I thought! It was so enjoyable, yes it was a simple story, but that doesn't make it any less meaningful and I loved that about it! Plus a lot of the story was mainly meant to be focused on ember and her dad's relationship, and I thought wades character and their relationship was so healthy and good to let ember realize who she wants to be. Plus all the gushy lovey-dovey stuff just made me melt in my seat the whole theatre. It was so CUTE !!!!
I agree with you I watched it today and I had similar thoughts
I really do love the movie for what it is. Yes, it was simple and had no depth. There probably won’t be any sequels, maybe some shorts with Ember and Wade’s relationship, but it was a cute movie and good for what it was
I would give it a 6.9 out of 10. It's decent on a level of a decent Dreamworks film. But don't go in expecting peak Pixar.
The debt to parents burden.... That's what made me cry. Not everyone feels put upon by their parents, but as someone who struggles with feelings of monetary and emotional responsibility back to family, that hit hard. Less hard on my second viewing but that one initial watch hit HARD
To me, the romance in this movie felt like the human couple from Wall-E. Like two people who had never really met before just see each other and "fall in love"
It has a very small window of time to progress but it seems ok enough to pass for a feel-good story
As for the immigrant part, I really loved it since I came from a similar background and the struggle between choosing what you want and what your parents want. It felt realistic to me at least and I guess that's the problem. It really hits harder for people who have similar paths but not as much for people who haven't.
Tldr: i think it's a simple movie with a simple plot and that's ok :)
I guess you didn't see the part where water boy saved both fire girl and the blue flame possibly at the cost of his life, because the dad accepting their relationship seemed pretty obvious to me.
Also yeah, getting over the initial anger is a good way to realize that your daughter may be in charge of her own life, especially if you love her so much.
Yeah! Exactly! They are super cute 😭😭😭 how can he say their chemistry is mid like- HUH?!? NO ITS NOT
@@leahpaz64895 facts
@@leahpaz64895 I think that most of the dismissal for this movie is because, just like most of the recent ones, it's not top tier Pixar, but that was preventing so many people from enjoying this really cute and colorful story. I'm really happy it got a lot more publicity after the "flop" 😊
The dad didn’t say anything like “I misjudged you”. That was the issue with resolution. Is he ok with Wade now, does he reluctantly accept him because he saved Ember or has he actually got over his racism?
@@sarasamaletdin4574 The plot was more about Ember realizing that she didn't want the shop nor the father's approval, so it wasn't really important for him to verbalize it. For the father, it was never about the relationship, but about trusting Ember and letting her make her own choices, which were proven to be good by Wade's actions. The deep bow was more than enough.
"am i being harsh because nostalgia or does it actually suck" is my constant battle with new pixar stuff
Nostalgia can't lower the quality of a new thing.
@@PlatinumAltaria yes but it can increase expectations
Its not. Every time I rewatch movies like the Incredibles or Ratatouille I'm blown away. And ppl currently love movies like Puss in Boots 2 and Spiderverse, so we can still differentiate good from eh. It's insane that the same studio that made those movies made this. I'm assuming most of the ppl who worked on those movies have left or are suffering under new management
@Its me or whatever How does one thing being good magically make another thing bad?
@@miguelaguilar751 disney itself is falling off
their more recent movies are worse than their older ones and arent even as good as other recent movies
It's certainly not perfect, and the world building could have used more depth and polishing, but this movie seemed to really speak to me in a number of ways. Mostly in the story line of Ember's father wanting her to take over the family business, but Ember wants to pursue art in glass blowing. This is practically spot on with my own life and situation where I've been working with my dad in our family business but don't want to take over, but rather pursue art in any way I can, which is what I went to college for anyway. I feel bad about not continuing what my dad built up, but I have absolutely no passion for it compared to creating art. It's exactly how Ember felt and I understand that dilemma in a way most others who watch this movie can't.
I also think Disney did a horrible job with the marketing for this film, and the whole "just shove Pixar movies to Disney+" thing for the last couple of years *really* hurt their in-theater ticket sales. Hopefully this movie will do better on streaming or with blu-ray sales. Either way it's sad this movie is getting shafted for so many reasons.
I actually really liked the movie. Even though i am not an immigrant i could relate to Ember’s existential crisis. And I don’t know if i am just asian but i 100% understand her relationship with her dad. This movie actually reminded me of Kim’s Convenience.
I love the animation on the fire, water, and air people, the powers and abilities they have are are very creative, I love how they created an entire fake language for the fire people, the music is awesome, and I like the arc Ember goes through. Overall, not one of Pixar's best, but certainly deserving of more attention than it's currently getting.
Agreed. It had potential, and is still serviceable enough, it's just kind of disappointing for a Pixar film.
The romance was decent, too, and it was nice to have a Disney movie where that was the focus again.
It's alright, but "alright" just isn't good enough for Pixar.
@@genjis5155
Yeah it's been so long since we really had one which is why it's a shame it's flopping cause that means we probably won't get one again for a while now
Issue is that the movie sounds interesting but the marketing made it looks generic. And even though the movie sounds like it’s decent it’s not enough to make me want to watch it
As a Filipino person who’s mom immigrated here I liked it
The fact that the fire girl felt pressure to do keep her fathers store and take care of it because it’s his dream and her feeling guilt for wanting more really hit home to me
Also interracial couples get judged all the time like my mom and dad get dirty looks from people people just because their interracial
Yeah people are hardcore overlooking that part of the movie… which is the WHOLE movie lol
It was really touching and a good lesson for children and unfortunately some adults
@Blue_910 Because an interracial love story featuring fire and water that destroy eachother on contact is one of the most generic premises ever thought of.
People overlook it because it's one of the first things that made people roll their eyes. "Love story between fire and water, oooo wow haven't ever heard of that before"
Same goes for "daughter that doesn't want to be burdened with family business". Cookie cutter plot tropes
@@NeutralGuyDoubleZerowell, someone hasn’t seen the movie then…
Because if you had, you’d know that the characters realize that their fretting over not being able to touch was pretty baseless all along. Tip for next time: before criticizing a movie for being basic, actually try watching it. It makes you look less like a nob.
@@NeutralGuyDoubleZero maybe it didn’t impact you that much because you’re white or never had immigrant parents, or maybe you’re just hard to please I don’t know 🤷🏼♀️
@@NeutralGuyDoubleZero I mean you have to think about it dude, the world doesn’t have infinite stories or infinite lessons to teach. Sure there’s other Fire and Water stories and other immigrant stories but they all have their place and time, this one was satisfactory in my opinion
I watched elemental and I absolutely loved it. There was alot of heart and soul in it. To be honest I loved the generic story of it all because I think recently we always look for movies and animations to blow us all away that we forget to enjoy a simplistic cinematic experience. So I'd give this movie a 7/10. The story was cute
Has this youtuber ever been in love? I’m not convinced. Had me at the “no chemistry” and the “never had a conversation about their common interests” and “seemed like very good friends”. The conversations were unnecessary because a good bit of the connection is implied. The love comes from the way they see each other and love they have for what they create together. Look at every single one of the scene where they make glow lights on the walls with the combination of water and fire light. That’s exactly what it’s like. To care more about the beauty created from the combination of two. The friendship is shown from enjoying each other’s company (montage) and the “more than friends” is evident by the way the animators make it clear they see their relationship in union to be a beautiful thing. I can attest. This is exactly what it’s like when it’s good and right
Dude he literally said that he watched the movie with his girlfriend. You can disagree with his opinion all you want but that first sentence was stupid.
Honestly, I’m gonna go a bit against the grain and say it was a pretty good movie. There are obviously flaws, but I honestly think that the charm and cuteness of the characters and story make it better. I also really loved the visual aspect of this movie, more than even Soul. It’s a solid 7/10 for me.
Agreed
IMO it’s easily Pixar’s best in years.
Which is why it’s unfortunate it hasn’t performed as well, it deserves all the love it can get.
Hopefully it finds more of an audience and gets awards LOL
@@RB01.10your complete liars. Can You please do not be set and confort with uncreative and unoriginality?
Lol that ain't going against the grain. The movie had shit marketing. It's had much better reviews once people went out to actually see it.
@@RB01.10Agree completely
If pixar wanted some kind of "magic" to go along with the immigrant story, they could've let it be in the real world but have the leads discover elemental magic together. Perhaps they discover this place as children and make each other to promise to keep it a secret as a way to escape the real world tensions.
This is a cool idea!
Wow that's a great idea
Wow why can’t we have more minds like yours working in the big businesses instead we get this half baked bs
Now that's just your Disney channel movie.
They'll probably do it in a year or two.
This is just gonna be avatar isekai bud 😭😭
The movie surpasses the expectations set by its trailer, defying premature judgments. I'm genuinely delighted that I gave it a chance, as it has become my favorite movie of the year.
I loved your sarcasm and jokes in your review, made my day! I love that you are totally in line with my thoughts on this movie and I have to watch this multiple times cuz my kids love it, but they don't see it like I do...One thing I would like to point out that I noticed that I had a problem with in this movie is how the value of family is not appreciated and Ember is basically selfish when her father has been pretty caring towards her.
The whole time it was about Ember's wants, and she claims she was pressured by her dad to run the business, but I saw none of that. I saw a pretty caring dad who had a daughter so excited to run the shop on her own but did not have clear guidance on how to make it happen. I really thought the movie was going to end with her gaining her glass-making skills to make the shop into her own and flourish the business because from a young age that was her dream, but they just went with "You're going to end up with someone and move away from home". I don't have a problem with her going away, but to make that the ending left no impression for the story. They should have put in a bit more and added more to the moral of the story. The whole theme fell flat and nothing did connect well.
Honestly, the best part of the movie was the characters relationship. Their relationship was paced wonderfully, and honestly, if the movie was longer and didn't have the 'Oh big water will flood fire town' plot at all, I could see them actually growing in love. Around the 3rd act was when I saw them rushing their relationship, which made me sad. Cuz honestly, I saw them growing and starting to like each other, and it was wonderfully done. Then the 3rd act happened and suddenly they love each other completely.
Honestly, I think that this movie would be better without any external tension (Action).
I agree honestly, I wasn't sure about their love story when it first was hinting towards it (cause I was very slow and didn't even see it at all lol) but when they got more into it, I really liked their relationship!
Yes, more slowburn friends to lovers content, my demisexual heart rejoices, that’s how i got with my boyfriend, we need MORE
@@ChaosLord5129 No one ever claimed we are the only ones that fall in love that way. the difference is that we can feel *attraction* as a whole ONLY after we made a deep connection.
We are literally unable to feel attraction towards someone we don’t know. We never have infatuations towards random people, or find them “hot” if we don’t know them, while many people do on the contrary. We can appreciate their aesthetics sure, but always in a plqtonic level. That’s why we usually don’t care about p*rn and doesn’t do much for us. No celebrity crushes either.
Ofc non demisexual people can fall in love trough getting to know someone deeply, that’s a given… is not exclusive to demisexuals, but is the ONLY way us demisexuals can feel anything at all. There’s a BIG difference there. And it’s a very real thing. That should clarify
@@ChaosLord5129 yes, IT IS normal, that’s kinda like the whole point lmao
It honestly helped me knowing there was a specific term for it tho, since before hand I assumed most people were like me, instead it helped me understand how we can all be slightly different in that regard, the end.
Plus is easier to explain really
Also seeing more stories like this and less “love at first sight” snoozers is refreshing
The only one who made a big fuss about it is you honestly 😅
I had a theory that Embers fire could be a chemical fire. So if water touched her she would burn brighter instead of extinguishing her-
Wouldn't that have been a cuter plot twist?
Definitely
That's an adorable idea honestly 😭
Kind of like a grease fire then?
That actually sounds so cool 😮✨
you shouldve been in the writers room
Hey Schaff! Just wanted to say that you’re my favorite movie/TV show reviewer. I love your takes and you catch things I didn’t notice on the first viewing.
4:15 so lemme get this straight. There are sentient water beings walking around, right? But there is also regular natural water flowing around. Does that mean natural water is just corpses of dead water people? Lmao, perhaps i'm overthinking this😆
I haven't seen the film so someone correct me if this is addressed. But fire requires oxygen to burn meaning that the atmosphere of the world would have to contain oxygen just like our world. But that means there is a difference between breathable oxygen and sentient oxygen aka the air ppl?? How come some oxygen gets to be sentient and some oxygen gets ingested by others?
This movie was fine. That's all I could really say after watching it. I would have liked more insight into the dad and why he felt animosity towards the water people. Like is it only because they were privileged? Was he wronged by someone at some point? Like there could have been whole character arc about not letting one or a few bad experiences cause you to view an entire group of people negatively. I did tear up a bit by the bow at the end though. The romance plot was ok, but it felt more like the water guy was already mature and developed and just guiding ember over to liking him without a real conflict, idk. Overall it was fine.
Also if a water person evaporates wouldn't they become a cloud person? And could a cloud person turn into a water person? I mean the guy did rain himself back to life at the end. Idk I feel the world could have been fleshed out more.
The way they were treated at the vivisteria tree
@@butheythatsmyopinion I guess but that seems to be the only point he faced any kind of discrimination. And I mean.... That ARE made of fire so. I guess that's where the race allegory falls apart.
Thought the movie was fine too, not great, but I'm pretty sure the fire dads prejudice stems from a storm destroying his previous home- so not like
An actual water person
Although that begs the question, shouldn't he be prejudiced against air as well? They're clouds. They bring storms. :/ movie was really confusing in that aspect, and many more
That’s one thing that kinda infuriates me. Criticizing the movie is all well and good, but there are so many that treat this movie, which is fine, as absolute scum dredged up from the bottom of a pestilent canal, just because it doesn’t live up to its predecessors. I get that expecting mediocrity is a bad trend, but expecting genius and being incensed when smg isn’t might be just as bad.
@@sansbazinga9821so water coming in and destroying his home before leaving with his pregnant wife, that was all in my head? Or were you in the bathroom for that part?
The first and last time I heard of this film was in the opening trailers before Spider-Verse. The problem for me, and also apparently the couple behind me in the cinema, was that the trailer really ham-fists the "be yourself, find your own purpose" theme that so many animated movies already use, except because it was explicitly said in the trailer it makes you feel like you don't even need to watch it to know the entire story and main character dynamic.
The fire effects do look cool though.
How did you know about the couple behind you? Did they just shout "Oh God another one of those" or something during the trailer? Or did you just overhear them talking about it later?
Honestly this felt like a return to the old Pixar ❤I really enjoyed this movie
Something I love about Schaff is how clear he makes it that he respects others' opinions and loves that people can enjoy something he doesn't. That bit of honesty just makes his videos feel so good to watch for me.
i was definitely annoyed that the city never bothered to properly fix the water leak, though their government doesn't seem to care about accommodating fire people that much 🤷🏻♀️ but i also could tell the glass and the leak was a metaphor for ember and her attempt to push her real feelings down so she can be the perfect daughter. when it broke was when her facade broke. i was very touched by her dealing with her flaws in the film, especially when she admits to herself how she really feels.
i really don't think the racism allegory is as strong in this movie as zootopia. while i wish element relations were more explained, i do think it was more about an immigrant navigating a society that doesn't consider them. and as ember and wade learn, just bc they're different doesn't mean they are incompatible - they can touch, they can be together.
I don’t even try to over analyze a cartoon but the plot is what I thought was meh, I knew what it was gonna be like and it’s exactly what I thought. Idk I just went because my daughter wanted to see it but i was definitely not interested in the plot.
seems like real life. takes months to fix a pothole where i live, some people fix it themselves so the city can tear it down and fix it faster, redundant i know
I agree with what Schaff was saying about the world building being flimsy - stuff like the world having normal fences they can easily phase through and sponges that can absorb people just seems lazy rather than the funny jokes the movie clearly thinks they are. Also the third act scene where Wade evaporates felt a little silly to me rather than sad. I disagree about the romance being weak though, honestly thought it was sweet how Wade and Ember fell in love and how the central conflict was whether they’d stay together not them coming together in the first place like most Disney romances. The performances were good too. Overall I’d say this movie is worth at least one watch even if not everything works about it.
The sponges could have been a really cool idea as like handcuffs for capturing water criminals using those old school dinosponge capsules like bullets
As a history buff; I didn’t struggle so much with figuring out the other elementals and why they were around without being as blatantly discriminated against like the fire people were as it showed how those groups of people arriving in previous immigration waves similar to how the US has had many different waves of immigrants with majority of each being different depending on the wave you look at and the newest majority being heavily discriminated at the time until the next wave inevitably started. I also thought that the direct reference to Ellis Island was extremely cool and important at showing the cultural clash as the exact thing happened to most immigrants (prime example being that many with Nordic ancestry have last names similar to “Anderson” because they culturally didn’t truly have last names but would introduce themselves as the child of their father [son of Ander]).
Another counter argument to the score is how it feels like you listened to the movie more than watched/experienced it; as I felt your criticisms about the relationship part and the Dad’s “acceptance” were based only on what wasn’t directly stated while I feel that the moments (particularly for the relationship growth) showed how their feelings were progressing particularly when they would admire the different ways each of them would interact with light. As for the father; he doesn’t ever truly get over his racism at the end of the film as you see how he interacts with water guy’s mother during the send off which showed that he still had bias but was actively working on addressing it.
All in all though; I still loved your video but felt like sharing some of my notes from when I watched it especially when I saw that some of your biggest criticisms were the highlights for my experience with the film
I don't cry at much, but something about this movie set me off. I really loved it! The visuals and premise really hit the spot in my brain and I hope they find some way to expand the universe further because as you mentioned I would also love to see more of the wind and earth people
As someone in an interracial relationship it really hit home for me and I could really relate to Ember and I saw a lot of my fiancé in Wade.. except for the constant crying, my fiancé is really empathetic but not mega crying empathetic. But I understand why it fell flat for a lot of people.
Speaking of which, the scene when Ember gets angry at Wade at the party was interesting.
Usually Wade cries and gets emotional over a lot of things but when Ember gets mad at him and tells him “I don’t love you!” he doesn’t even cry hard like before. He just looks stunned, confused, and disappointed
i know, i hate when i accidentally evaporate half my gf's face by kissing her.
as someone also in an interracial relationship, this movies allegory is garbage. black and white people arent literal opposing natural forces that destroy each other on contact, we're exactly the same minus our color.
it would be closer to real life if it was, like, a red fire person and a blue fire person.
@@RB01.10dude, stop writting the script, stop defendíng mediocrity and calling it a masterpiece
@@bauloprete3905 You have anything else better to do than to pathetically troll?
Ever heard of opinion ?
It fell flat for white people (mostly). Our society is so white washed and bleached over by racist America that only kids with families that have immigrated to America from countries where their skin color is anything but that of a Caucasian will understand the symbolisms from the movie. For everybody else, they just see talking clouds, water blobs, fire, and tree people with eyes and a mouth but the allegories and prejudice and discrimination was basically my life growing up at a school with only Caucasian conservatives.
Over the last couple years, I've started giving into the idea that Disney as a whole has just crumbled into corporate mediocrity. I faught so hard against that feeling for so long, but I can't ignore it anymore. Everything from Marvel to Star Wars to Pixar and even their homemade animations just feel sterile. There are times when I think it might just be my nostalgia for the good ol' days warping my perception, but then I remember that I still loved movies like Moana and Encanto, and I still love some new Star Wars stuff like Andor and MCU stuff like GotG3 and No Way Home. Disney DOES still make really good stuff. It's just, that's the exception now, and not the norm.
It's a really bad feeling, as someone who grew up on Disney and who has been a passionate fan of their material up until recently. I could look past it if I thought it were just a creative slump like back in the post-Walt era or the mid-late 2000's. But it's clear that all the problems stem from the culture at Disney, and from the greed and moral decay that exists at the center of the corporation. The castle of Disney is decorated with bright colorful lights and smiles and imagination, but the inner chambers are cold and cynical. I really, desperately hope the new CEO will change things up a bit. I would be happy to see a return of the Disney of the 90's, or hell, I'd even settle for a return of the Disney of the early 2010's. But current Disney is just embroiled in too many projects and their priorities are in the wrong places.
Yeah :(
Fitting that their brand symbol is a castle. People see a castle as whimsical and fantastical when most people forget that actual castles are *strong military tools* used for projecting military ppwer and imposing the king's domination over territory. Disney is just conquering kingdoms and adding them to their empire, turning everything the same.
Yeah, I realized that earlier myself but that doesn't really matter, because I also feel the same on it and I feel sad about it. Now it is cool to hate Disney and all (with legitimate reasons, like their ever growing control of media and the entertainment industry) but they are responsible for so many classic movies that me and generations of people know and love that I simply cannot be indifferent to their legacy. Let us just hope that either they get back to the right track, or something else comes along with a similar spirit to replace it.
They want to impress china and they want to appeal to black rocks corporate standards and that's what you get their essentially forced to do mediocre corporate garbage.
I think what really hits home is seeing stuff like Spiderverse and Star Wars: Visions and realizing that the best things to come out of these franchises in years are the ones with the least creative input by Disney. Heck, one could argue that any creative spark in a recent Disney project whatsoever comes from people who work outside the system (Dana Terrace with The Owl House, James Gunn with Guardians) and what happens to those creators? They either get booted out or they leave in search of more creative freedom. It’s like Disney doesn’t even recognize talent that’s right in front of their faces.
Love the videos, man. Keep it up!!!
Let me just say this.
Just because a movie is predictable, doesnt mean its bad. Lol.
I thought they explained the evaporating thing earlier with the store vandalizers. Ember almost evaporates them by flaring up near them. You can be a little shocked thinking "Wait, was she on the verge of murdering two people because they were messing with her cafe?", but I figured that was the pretense. Also, there was the scene of the mother trying to evaporate the hotel guard, but failing.
Also, I feel like "Why aren't there water pipes for transport?" is explained by Wade getting sucked into pipes. Like, he can survive being submerged in water, but he loses control when he does, so no water person would want to connect to running water. The only other time we see water people in water is Marco and Polo in the calm waters of their contained house.
Lastly, the wind/earth people don't have much impact, but I think that's part of the point. The water people were completely cool with two other elements coming to the city. It emphasizes the issues the fire people got. Without earth/wind, you'd just think water/fire people might just be assholes in general. But the neutral parties helps establish it more as racism than just a general hatred.
The movie still had some rough parts (the tempered glass breaking was contrived, the relationship's a little forced, and chemical incompatibility is a heavy-handed racism metaphor), but I enjoyed the movie overall.
You entirely missed the point of the pipes thing. The point isn’t that they didn’t use pipes as transport, it’s that the movie barely did any work in deliberating how transport would be different for these elemental people compared to us. They just made a city, without really considering how it would actually be made to properly accommodate these beings.
Also, you can easily do something with these two other races. The fact the movie did nothing with them is an embarrassment. Also you don’t need these neutral party races to figure out that their is racism between Fire and Water, considering that what they focus on in their hatred and how they talk can easily clue you in that the bad feelings are from racism. It just feels like they were pointless, and added nothing to the movie other than filling the cliche quartet.
Except it doesn't have to be pipes just, idk, anything? I'd love this movie to create a "city" that's actually more like a nature reservour where water travels via a river or wind rustles through the leaves... or if they are dead set on a "city aesthetic" then maybe the shape of the air people homes could be inspired by the mushroom-shaped rocks on the desert. You know, little creative inspirations that make the world actually unique and interesting
There's literally an entire scene in the opening that shows the cloud people traveling around in blimps (that inflate when cloud people get in them) and water people surfing around on water slides. The trains exist because they accommodate all 4 elements. But overall, the main issue is that people are now judging Pixar's worldbuilding under a microscope in ways that weren't really applied to older Pixar classics. The Monsters Inc. world is basically the human world, with monsters instead. Coco's afterlife is also the human world, but with skeletons. Same with the Cars franchise. All of these films use the human world as a template and the creativity is in the details, and it's the same in Elemental - people are just cynically saying "Why didn't they do THIS?" without looking at all the things they did actually do.
@@aGameScout Yeah, no the Cars world is still and will always be a disappointment in terms of world building, that’s one of its biggest flaws. Coco’s world makes sense considering the fact that it is based on an afterlife for humans with relevance to a human culture, and the monster world while mostly based on our world which makes sense seeing how sapient and materially biological these beings are compared to being made of fire or some other element, also still contains proper security measures for most if not all monsters, and uses the scariness of the monsters as an advantage in their own way of energy generation that is the centre piece of running their world rather than doing the bare minimum.
Sure you outlined some methods that appear in the beginning but that’s pretty much it. Aside from that, there is very little that makes the world feel like it was actually built around elements first and humans not at all. Especially with fences, like the film acknowledging that fallacy doesn’t make it better. Water slides are only that useful for going down, they aren’t so useful for transport everywhere else. They could have shown a bunch of intricate canal systems and pumps but they did the bare minimum in that regard. And why even bother with balloons in the first place when air people can literally fly already? There’s little to no point for the balloons and it feels like they played to much into human designs for the world even then.
The reason people are questioning the world building now is that either the movies you mentioned were loved for reasons that didn’t draw attention to the world, or in Cars case, is part of a franchise with more notable issues, that was born out of corporate laziness. This movie doesn’t get a free ticket just because you think that the others got away with that. That is an aspect the other should also be judged by as should be this film should be judged by.
@@aGameScoutpeople clown on Cars and Coco all the time? Cars way WAY more often of course, but one of the loudest criticisms you hear of Coco is "why did they insert afterlife border patrol/airport security into this culture's afterlife, and why would you effectively need a photo ID to experience a proper afterlife" which are valid criticisms because they couldn't come up with something more fantastical and creative as a barrier or conflict, they had to shove in a modern concept that everybody is familiar with; like, what did people do before cameras? pretty movie and good songs in it, i liked the characters, the world-building is bad and is also the focus of the plot, which is then not great because of it.
If the main protagonists switched elements, it would be a game-adaptation of Fire boy and Water Girl
yes but now its an animated adaptation of sharkboy and lavagirl
just with a way different plot
Personally, I really dont agree with most of the criticism. Like I know racism wasn't even the focus at all. Most of the focus was her being afraid to be disappointed and just wants her father's approval. So she feels trapped (like she said in the movie).
My gf and I watched it. It was one of Pizar's most romantic films, and the movie made me cry like Wade for like half the time. Her and I told each other how we see us as the characters (the similarities in personalities blew our minds)
Her and I loved the hell out of it. I respect Shafrillas a lot for keeping an open mind that it isn't a bad film and has flaws (which it certainly does). I just worry about people who hate on it just to hate. I really want there to be a sequel. I loved it
TL;DR:
This is a film that has made a grown man cry and the focus was more on Ember and her father. And I'm going to buy it on Blu Ray to watch it with my gf again
I gotta admit, it does suck knowing that the other elements didnt get more of an in depth look or any story, but i do gotta input about the glass. The scene where Ember makes the flower and the one where she fixes the pitcher, those were times she was happy, content with herself, it came from the heart. The wall fix shows how much shes willing to do, but since her hearts not in it, it still has flaws, thus causing the cracking. The more pressure shes put through, the more the glass falters. It couldve been presented a bit better but i could immediately pick up on that. It wasnt just a 3rd act climax filler, it was a representation of how Ember feels deep down.
I think it's safe to assume Bernie came around on the water people after Wade, you know...saved his daughter's life? And saved the family flame? It is kind of weird that he became okay with Wade's entire species instead of just seeing Wade as "one of the good ones." (Boy, wouldn't that have been something)
Yeah true. I would assume that after knowing that he did save Ember’s life and also got his blue flame back. I think he kinda changed his views. (Plus based on the ending and credits, he looked like he came around and enjoyed the company of Wade’s family so yeah I would assume he changed his views on water people after Wade)
My thoughts exactly
I will say though watching Wade’s “death scene” I was a bit confused.
It looked like by hugging him her flame was able to evaporate not only him but the water around her too ?
Well, he is retired by that point so maybe retirement has loosened him up?
Its still a poor excuse, dont make the script for them. Period, its was badly done.
@@RB01.10stop defendíng mediocrity
The tagline "elements don't mix" gave away the entire plot of the movie. It's hard to be excited for a movie when you already know exactly where it's going to go
yeah agree, lately the pixar movies are just really predictable
when watching toy story 2/3, walle, monsters inc, incredibles, cars 1/3 (just to name a few of my favorites) for the first time, you might read what the movie is about, but, will you have an idea how it's going to go? not really. they take you on a journey with the characters and you get to immerse yourself in their story
haven't felt that with their projects lately, like i don't go around thinking "damn i wish i was Luca/Ian/Joe/Ember/Wade in a dream/videogame", but i do have that for woody/buzz, wall-e/eve, mr incredible/other incredibles, mcqueen, sully/wazowski (and i did lol, childhood games all 5)
But they end up mixing!?
they end up mixing so what's your point? also the plot of the movie is that they are afraid of not mixing.
@@lalo2papi775 yeah, its predictable, a love story with a tagline "elements dont mix" just screams "(they will mix!!)"
@@alexo_pog I mean yeah. But a story doesn’t have to be a revolutionary piece of perspective changing fiction to be enjoyable. It has a simple message and story that doesn’t really need any shocking twist to be and better
I’m glad to see people in the comments defend this movie. I really think there are a lot of flaws to Schaf’s analysis. Probably because it isn’t one, it’s just a 10 minute review that doesn’t analyze any symbolism and tends to take things very literally. There’s so much more to this movie than he gives credit for. It’s definitely not a 5/10
I really really enjoyed it. the immigrant narritive, interracial relationship dynamic story is incredible and really touching. I related to those themes on a very deep and emotional level and im sure others did too. Seeing all the backlash is disappointing and low key out of touch. I think this movie was deeply moving and connected to a certain group of people and im glad it exists
My favourite part of the movie was whenever aang had to fight the fire lord ozai and zuko had to fight his crazy sister
Truee
It was great up until the ending where Aang got a deus ex machina power that conveniently let him sidestep his moral dilemma. You’d think Pixar could write a better ending than that.
Still better than the sequel, though.
Z U K O ' S C R A Z Y S I S T E R
@@typhoonthunderHear me out
@@DOG_EATER_1887she’s 14
As someone who usually overthinks and analyses movies to death, this one landed really well for me. I didn’t think of fire as any one to one race allegory it was more of a general concept of the struggle of immigrants moving into a new community. Also the only people who say elements don’t mix are ember and her parents. Sure there is some casual racist coding from others but overall it felt like the don’t mix allegory was more a worry of Burnie losing his cultural heritage as time went on. Again not many people in the world are telling ember and Wade not to be together, it’s just unfamiliar and they don’t know what will happen and no one else knows or sees the need to tell them.
To me, I loved this movie because it didn’t try too hard. The worldbuilding was soft and that’s okay. The love story between ember and Wade was important but I think the true emotional core of the movie is ember and her father. Wade is a catalyst for ember’s character development to realize that she can love and respect her father without sacrificing herself for his sake. I think that’s why the movie released Father’s Day weekend. Because it’s more a story about a father and his daughter. As someone who came from a family where my parents went through so much to give me a future, I can relate to embers worry about how to repay that sacrifice and how you live up to past generations while finding your own path. It’s not a perfect Pixar movie but I feel a lot of people judge it as if it is trying to break new ground where I don’t think it is. It’s a story from the heart.
True, also I think people forget that in the scene when we see Wade’s family we are briefly introduced to his cousin and her air-girlfriend and the fact that they are a lesbian and “interracial” couple of water and air is normalized there, even Amber doesn’t say anything about it even if her parents said “elements don’t mix” which suggests that despite of that she knows some do
@@lauracerqueiramachado8979 No, that was a contradiction that males the movie's theme fails even more, even commit or dont
Dude, stop tring excuse yourself to hard. The movie is generic and isnt good, period.
@fredy2041 either shut up or provide some context to your criticism lmao
Probably best and most reasonable review here.
5:26 the workmen barely struck it also the glass was clearly a metaphor/tie to embers emotional state. It reflected on how she was feeling. hence when she felt fragile so was the glass
One correction is in the movie they do set up the whole “you could evaporate and die” thing before the ending. It was said very quickly though and could easily had been missed
I’m interested to see this movie. The animation looks absolutely gorgeous and the story seems basic but fun. I hope Pixar continues to do more original projects instead of only sequels, prequels or spin-offs. Not all of them might be perfect, but at least they try to be unique.
Not entirely sure it's an original idea. "Sea Prince and the fire child" does exist, after all.
@@carlotta4th I mean fire characters contrasting with water characters isn't anything new, but I'm p sure op meant original by not building off of an existing ip but making a new one.
Agreed
Elemental was a breath of fresh air, it was refreshing to see a film that wasn’t a remake or sequel. Not to mention no big bad in it.
Easily my favorite Pixar film in years
I honestly never undertsood why so many people hated this movie for how it looks
Pixar movies have always had this kind of character designs, and there were times where I felt like i was the one insane for thinking that they look just fine.
Personally I can appreciate the intense amount of work and time they have to put into this. But I imagine this would look better in 2D.
Girl main character - curvy, overly feminine omg it’s a girl!!!
Male main character - shapeless blob lol
Ik he’s water but the other fire people are also sometimes just blobs of fire.
I don't know why ,but I hugely dislike the water guy design
I do not enjoy the character designs myself, they seem very bland and uncreative to me. If you compare the character designs (not art style) to Inside Out, Turning Red, or Onward, the designs in other movies are just so much more full of life and charm. For this, it feels stereotypical and mediocre in the character design department. I can't see someone dressing up as one of these characters for Halloween, or someone making one of the characters their special interest. Just feels so lifeless to me imo
WOW haven't thought about Weird Al's Albuquerque: the Movie animation in a long time! Still could hear that part in my head at 5:18
I think most people who have faced these struggles in their lives, either being in an immigrant family, or a strict family, where you are forced to carry the dreams and aspirations for your parents can relate to this movie. I'm an Indian, never been to US, but I still related to this movie so much because my parents are like that. It may be difficult for someone to like this movie or understand this movie if they have never experienced anything similar, but if they have they will love it. I cried so many times while watching it. Elemental just hits home. But people may not understand it without the cultural context.