#if there's no limit to the number of animated movies you're willing to watch in a single summer sure mario and teenage kraken are fine

[gamesception]

So I finally got around to seeing the new Pixar movie, Elemental, and it's pretty great actually? Like, I know the marketing made it look very generic. The trailers seem to give the whole movie away, make you feel like you've not only already seen this movie, you've seen it a dozen times. But believe me, that's not true. There's a lot more going on with the main character and her relationship to her family and her culture and the pressure she's under as a second generation immigrant trying to honor the sacrifices her parents made for her sake. And the love interest water guy who seems so deeply mediocre in the trailers actually has a lot more going for him as well, putting so much effort in and so much on the line. Like, yes, it's a different-worlds odd-couple romance with a kind of strained racial / immigrant metaphor, but it's a really good and earnest and heartwarming version of that.

And it Just Looks Breathtaking - the colors, the use of transparency, the water and fire effects especially, the way the characters are always flickering or bubbling or flowing, every part of them always in motion even when they're standing still. If you're an animation fan you'll be watching it in awe wondering 'how is that even possible', which, I mean after having the same feelings watching Spiderverse 2, it really is a rich summer for animation.

Sure, from a business perspective Elemental looks like such an obvious mistake. And maybe from that angle it was. I mean, to spend so much money on an original movie with an honestly rather subdued plot and concept - like, there's a reason romance movies are generally relatively low budget affairs - and then to throw it up against Spiderverse 2 of all things? The executives at Disney are out of their goddamn minds. But as irrational as Elemental's budget might have been, every penny of it is on display. If you're an animation fan you really shouldn't miss the chance to see it on the big screen