REVIEW: ELEMENTAL

3.5/5

Elementary, My Dear Water. 

109 Mins. Starring: Leah Lewis, Mamoudou Athie, Ronnie del Carmen, Shila Ommi, Wendi McLendon-Covey & Catherine O'Hara. Director: Peter Sohn. On: Disney +. 

Like oil and water, we're almost all against each other these days, like the elements. When we need to be together like the fire and ice of Laker legends, the NBA logo Jerry West and the late, great Elgin Baylor. Disney have been trying in their 100-year anniversary of a century of classics from the fairytale storybook. They even gave us a whole new 'Little Mermaid' for our coming together world under the sea. Now, in the same week they table two haunting Halloween horrors (their 'Haunted Mansion' ride reboot and their detective deal with Poirot's 'A Haunting In Venice') for their streaming service Disney Plus, they conclude their big-three blockbusters with the 'Force Of Nature' that is Pixar's epic 'Elemental'. Enough for you to keep the powerful, penultimate episode of 'Loki' Season 2 on hold for all this glorious purpose. The 'Toy Story' and 'Monsters Inc' crowd, putting in work like the 'Up' side of 'Carl's Date' for their 'Dug Days' shorts. Giving us a modern metaphor for our love and life that doesn't box-tick a form they slide across our desk, waiting for us to sign, like they've done with other properties, when our word was already stronger in solidarity than 'Jerry Maguire' oak. Show me the funny, because 'Elemental' makes more than money. But change and a few hearts break like your merchandise ready piggy bank in the process.

Engrossing our every emotion like 'Inside Out' literally did and stirring the soul of our very lives like the return of a jazzy Jamie Foxx, 'Elemental' feels like a part of a Pixar trilogy like when Quentin Tarantino made 'Django', 'Basterds' and 'Once Upon A Time' to rewrite history, outside of just Hollywood. This romantic and dramatic Walt Disney Picture was a summer scorcher that now streams like the tears of those ones you bottle up instead of set alight. Some of us have a fireside. Others be water like Bruce Lee. At times, especially in this day and age, we're both. Ready to burst or blaze at any matter. But why steam, when you can come together and stream, without getting cross? This world inhabited by anthropomorphic elements of nature is conceived by 'The Good Dinosaur' of Peter Sohn, a man who not only directed the sweet short 'Partly Cloudy' (without a chance of meatballs), but also voiced Emile in 'Ratatouille' and most recently the super cute Sox cat in the Buzz 'Lightyear' movie. This cinematic journey centres around the budding love between the fire of Leah Lewis' Ember Lumen and Mamoudou Athie's water boy, Wade Ripple. And if you thought those names were classic, wait until you get a load of the Bernice's, Brooks and Gales that hail from these incredible cityscapes in a movie that also features the voices of Ronnie del Carmen, Shila Ommi, Wendi McLendon-Covey, and Catherine O'Hara. Not to mention more puns than 'Monsters At Work' before their "shocking off". 

With the soulful sound of Lauv's 'Steal The Show' at the heart, taking centre stage this elementary look at love and life is all something we can sing-a-long to and learn from. All without hammering home the burning message in a water-logged world of negativity like the Pixar lamp does the "I". Instead, 'Elemental' shines a light on all that we need to see for ourselves. Whether that's with the light of day, or in reflection of all we see beneath us. Inspired by 'Guess Whose Coming To Dinner', 'Moonstruck' and 'Amelie', 'Elemental' is also one of the most engrossing looks at immigration and the American dream that Sohn's parents sought after in 1970s New York (wait to you see what Times Square looks like in this underwater Gotham by the fire of Metropolis). The cultural and ethnic diversity is beautiful, beyond the digital enhancements here, but in the very elements you see all around you. From the subway to the convenience store where you buy the food that you bring home and feed your family, who on their way the next day, head to all walks of life. 

Point of view YouTube tours (which might be on permanent repeat in my home, even though I'm extremely lucky to live in the best-of-the-best, in Tokyo, Japan) from Venice and Amsterdam helped inspire these twins forged in fire and watered everyday like a Lennon love for the one and Ono. Production itched along for seven years, but sealing the deal. This sleeper hit is waking up everybody this year, back in cinemas. Rubbing your eyes to the sun and drinking a fresh glass. Coming together like a rainbow, as love reigns supreme over all. Just like our differences...which at least give us something to talk about. Like this proud and powerful Pixar picture. Prejudice has no place in our hearts. Only other people do. And you know what that is. Elementary. TIM DAVID HARVEY. 

Further Filming: 'Inside Out', 'Soul', 'Luca'.