Weekend Watch: Elemental, The Flash, Star Trek: Strange New Worlds
Pixar returns to originality, Barry Allen messes up the multiverse and the Enterprise crew continue their mission
Image Credit: Disney/Pixar
Welcome to the latest edition of Weekend Watch, in which I recommend (or occasionally warn against) movies or TV shows I’ve been checking out. This week, Pixar tackles immigration through elements, The DCEU wraps up with some speedy action and Star Trek’s best live-action show continues to boldly go. Follow James on Twitter: @jamwhite
It’s been something of a rough old ride for Pixar of late. Once the champions of American animation, they’ve seen some great work (Soul and Turning Red among them) shoved straight to Disney+ either because of pandemic worries or to grow the streaming service’s subscriber base.
Then the company’s big return to cinemas, Lightyear, failed to make much of an impact despite a connection to the beloved Toy Story franchise that kicked off its theatrical tradition.
So, to say there’s a lot of pressure on Elemental to succeed and return the glory to which this team is accustomed is something of an understatement. And while the film won’t go down in the annals of classic output from the Emeryville gang, it is at least charming and fun in its own way.
Elemental introduces us to Element City, a sprawling, fantastical metropolis where different elements –– Land, Air, Water, and, more, recently Fire –– have settled in relative harmony. It’s to this world that Bernie (Ronnie Del Carmen) and Cinder (Shila Ommi) Lumen arrive from the land of Fire to start a new life with their unborn daughter.
Years later, that child, Ember (Leah Lewis) has grown into an impulsive young woman, one that her father hopes will one day soon inherit the shop he runs in the fire quarter. But Ember runs hot –– she has a burning temper that gets her into trouble with customers, and while she’s trying to be a loyal daughter, she’s not even totally convinced she wants to take over the family business.
When Ember accidentally meets city inspector Wade Ripple (Mamoudou Athie) she initially takes against the nervy, curious, and kind water element. Still, circumstances keep pushing them together and they soon realize they could have serious chemistry.
Yet with the fire quarter under threat from water leaks and the pressure of family getting in the way, will these two unlikely friends –– and potentially more –– be able to let off some steam?
Director Peter Sohn draws on his own immigrant background and others to sketch in the messages here, which aren’t exactly subtle, but do work in their own way. The voice cast, led by Lewis and Athie (and more than ably supported by the likes of Catherine O’Hara and Wendi McLendon-Covey are sprightly when they need to be, but also carry the dramatic weight. And it goes without saying that a lot of the visuals are a wonder to behold, Element City itself is packed full of references and invention.
And yet… When compared to the likes of Spider-Man: Across The Spider-Verse, this new Pixar title certainly suffers. It’s not looking to be the same sort of film, but it can’t compete regardless. It’s another Pixar buddy comedy (with a romantic heart that offers another layer) set in a world where something has human feelings. This is right down the middle formula for this team, it’s not always executed as ably as it might.
Elemental will still provide plenty of all-ages entertainment. It’s just a problem when the short before it (Carl’s Date, spun off from one of the company’s Oscar-winning triumphs, Up) gives you more of a full emotional connection –– and that features knockabout comedy between an old man and a dog.
Elemental is in UK and US cinemas now.
Image Credit: Warner Bros.
I wasn’t sure how I’d react to The Flash, which comes weighted with the burden of effectively wrapping up the DC Extended Universe that Zack Snyder ushered in and handing the baton to the new DC Studios regime of James Gunn and Peter Safran. Not to mention all the controversy around star Ezra Miller.
Imagine my surprise, then, when the movie turned out to be nimble, funny, heartfelt, and full of intriguing action, plus the most visual portrayal of Barry Allen’s (Miller) speedy powers yet seen on the big screen.
The story adapts one of the most famous Flash comic book plots –– Flashpoint, where Barry decides to use his speed force abilities to travel back in time and save his mother Nora (Maribel Verdú) from being murdered when Barry was young, a crime for which his father Henry (Ron Livingston) was wrongly accused and sentenced to years in prison.
But, because if Barry simply succeeds and all is happy we don’t have much of a movie, and things go badly wrong. His temporal tinkering leads him to an alternate universe where his parents are alive and happy, but where most superheroes don’t exist. When Man Of Steel’s General Zod (Michael Shannon) arrives with his planet-threatening terraforming machine, there’s seemingly only Barry to stop him. Our hero seeks out Bruce Wayne… who turns out to be the version played by Michael Keaton in Batman and Batman Returns. Older, more grizzled, and less inclined to rubber-clad vigilantism, he nevertheless agrees to help Barry, who is running around with this universe’s college-aged version of Allen.
To say much more would be to give away the bigger surprises of the film (though Warner Bros., in its infinite marketing wisdom, has already done a lot of that, and others have leaked), and I’d advise going in knowing as little as possible. Other issues? The effects range from excellent to rubbery weirdness, particularly in an early scene where Barry helps his usual Batman (Ben Affleck) with a rescue mission. It’s surprising that some of these shots made it through to the final cut. And the score sometimes sounds like The Matrix is missing its music, though lashings of Danny Elfman’s classic Batman theme whenever Keaton is on-screen help make it work.
Yet director Andy Muschietti, who heretofore has been more known for the horror stylings of films such as It and its sequels, handles it all with style and verve, and this is probably the closest DC has come yet to truly making something that blends humour and action together on the level of some of the better offerings from Marvel.
The Flash is in UK and US cinemas now.
Image credit: Paramount+
I really enjoyed the first season of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds, so much so that I gave it its own column entry. It’s a relief, then, to report that what I’ve seen of Season 2 maintains the quality level while letting a few different characters have their moment to shine.
Right now, Strange New Worlds represents the best of the live-action Star Trek series (not a knock against Discovery, which ploughs its own, more serious row, and Picard, which has been up and down but recovered well for its nostalgia-powered final season).
This series works so well partly because it leans into the look and feel of classic Trek while also staying true to more present-day (ironic for a show set in the future) sensibilities. And because the whole crew is just so likeable. It’s easy to find yourself wanting to simply spend time with Anson Mount’s Captain Pike and his ensemble, as every character works well on some level. If I have a quibble with this season’s stories, it’s that several breaks the team up to try different pairings, and not all of them work out. But this is still confident, occasionally inspired Trek.
Having seen the six episodes provided to critics, I’m now eagerly awaiting the crossover with the animated show Lower Decks because if any show can make that work without descending into pure madness, it’s Strange New Worlds.
If you like your Trek with fun and adventure, this really is the show you should be watching right now.
The first episode of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds Season 2 is on Paramount+ now. I’ve seen the first six of 10.