Elemental review – Pixar’s fire-and-water romance struggles to ignite

The latest animation from Pixar takes a high-concept setup – a sprawling metropolis, Element City, in which the residents, all made of either fire, water, air or earth, live in strictly segregated neighbourhoods – to explore a universal theme: the need for cultural acceptance and harmony. At the heart of the story is a star-crossed romance between hot-headed fire girl Ember (voiced by Leah Lewis) and sappy, sweet-natured water guy Wade (Mamoudou Athie). And perhaps it’s ludicrous to complain about the authenticity of a relationship between a woman made of flame and an entirely liquid man, but there’s little persuasive chemistry between them. 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.