I haven’t been the biggest fan for Pixar’s films for more than a decade now, and I wasn’t looking forward to this one based upon its previews.  I thought it looked far too much like Inside Out, with its separation of personality traits and color.  I’m so glad I was wrong; despite an over-reliance on familiar tropes regarding immigration, urban life and parent-child relationships, this film is largely a delight.

Peter Cohn’s story follows Ember, a young fire element in Element City, where, somehow, the disparate elements of fire, earth, air and water manage, largely, to coexist.  Ember inadvertently puts her father’s storefront business in jeopardy and tries to fix things with an amiable water inspector, Wade.  Together they uncover a danger facing the entire neighborhood, and gradually fall for each other.  When the crisis comes they risk everything to save who they love.

The film’s weakness, which lies in the story’s familiar and obvious ingredients, is also its strength.  These familiar components resonate because the writing is so delicate and sharp, from Ember’s growing dissonance from her family (and the store’s customers) to the thrill and exhilaration of discovering new and exciting aspects of life just around the corner.  If the film flays some easy targets along the way (discrimination of all kinds, the plight of immigrants, the need for proper infrastructure, respect for all), consider the life lessons a well-meaning aspect that one can savor or ignore as one sees fit.

Why get worked up about some preachy moments in the midst of such a visual feast?  The film is unendingly innovative and gorgeous to witness as each of the elements is provided with their own special, delightful characteristics.  Wade and the water features are especially cool.  And the story’s central sense of burgeoning feelings for one’s opposite is beautifully handled, gradual and completely natural.  Kudos to the Pixar crews who worked for seven years to bring this story to fruition.  ☆ ☆ ☆ 1/2.  13 August 2023.