Elemental

Gentle and humane but never raw or vulnerable.

There are tonal parallels with Pixar’s Inside Out and Zootropolis, but while it has a peppy visual energy, Elemental lacks the wildly inventive storytelling of the former and the laughs of the latter.

A bit like Inside Out meets Zootropolis – but not as fully worked out as either – it’s a movie of lovely, radiant moments.

Busy, zany and sincere, the movie does a perfectly good job with the stuff of urban culture clash. But it is also fatally unfunny, and gets more so with every weird contrivance it whips up.

The problem is that there’s not enough storytelling muscle here for the allusion to really land.

Surely a reality where the elements are in charge should be more inventive, not limited by the trappings of capitalism and gender norms?

It’s not often you get an original concept from Pixar that doesn’t work.

Elemental manages to be pleasantly heart-warming, if not nearly as profound or affecting as some of the studios’ previous projects.

Probably one of the worst Pixar outings in a very long time.

Baby's first immigrant story and interracial relationship courtesy of … Disney/Pixar? I jest because, honestly, ELEMENTAL is cute and does work on that social level.