This got such a lukewarm reception that I might have waited decades to watch if not for the Best Animated Feature Oscar nomination. Then I thought about how it's not reportedly controversial like Wish or Turning Red. At the very least, I knew it would be visually interesting in a way reminiscent of Inside Out.
Element City has long been home to beings made of liquid water, clouds, and a combination of soil and plants, but it has little accommodation or patience for its latest immigrants, the fire folk, who mostly live in a district on the outskirts. Protagonist Ember Lumen (Leah Lewis), a second-gen resident, expects to take over the general store that her ailing father, Bernie (Ronnie del Carmen), founded. But upon a surprise visit, Inspector Wade Ripple (Mamoudou Athie), obviously a water man, discovers enough plumbing violations that he feels obliged to have the place shut down. Ember's pleading changes his mind only after he's sent his report, and together they take it up with his employer, cloud woman Gale Cumulus (Wendi McLendon-Covey), who agrees to ignore the report as long as they can finish Wade's assigned project of fixing a canal leak within a few days.
At this point, I began to suspect a Chinatown-like scheme of water getting criminally diverted, but no, there are no real antagonists. Even the most blatant fantastic racists have their limits. The main conflict isn't really about plumbing problems; it's about Ember realizing how she truly feels about her presumed future career...and about Wade. Yep, it becomes pretty obvious from the moment she admires his physique that they'll fall in love eventually.
Gosh, when was the last time a Disney animation had an unambiguous, full-fledged romance at its center? Even Frozen 2 relegated Anna and Sven to a beta plot. Of course, these star-crossed lovers have more than Bernie's bigotry to overcome; touching at all is risky. They also have reason to be annoyed at each other sometimes, not least when Wade cries a fountain easily or Ember blazes in a rage. At the same time, we understand that their feelings, however rapidly developing, are based on more than the allure of forbidden fruit. They do make a pretty cute couple.
As colorful as the worldbuilding is, I'm afraid the movie answers only so many questions we might have. We don't learn much, for example, about the beings who aren't firey or watery. Maybe a sequel will tell more, but I won't hold my breath.
This touches on the most common complaint about Elemental: It rarely comes across as downright clever. The romcom story feels cobbled together from prior hits, and half the gags would not have taken me long to devise. Still, I'm not going to resent a family feature for appealing to kids first and foremost. I'm sure it'd be fun to watch with them.
The next Zootopia it isn't, but I approve the Academy nod. It's better than at least one competitor this year.
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