Elemental The Flash

Pixar’s new film Elemental is pleasant overall and gorgeous to look at, but fails to reach the height of Pixar’s best work.

In Element City, the elements fire, water, air, and earth live together but are still segregated in many ways. The fire-woman Ember (voiced by Leah Lewis) is preparing to take over her immigrant parents’ eatery when a leak thrusts water-man city inspector Wade (voiced by Mamoudou Athie) into her life. After an initial conflict between the two, a romance slowly develops.

There are themes about bigotry and the plight of immigrants, but the film has no real antagonist, a flaw that also handicapped Frozen 2. The closest thing to an antagonist in the film is crumbling city infrastructure, which is something New Orleanians can likely relate to but doesn’t easily make for great drama. Pixar’s Soul and Inside Out were both excellent films without a classic bad guy, but those scripts also had stronger quests driving their leads. Elemental looks great and is by no means bad, but the lack of dramatic tension makes it feel a little aimless. The children packing the auditorium will enjoy it well enough, but it never seizes your heart the way the Toy Story films, Up, and Zootopia did.

—Fritz Esker

The new film, The Flash, is inspired by the crossover story in the 2011 DC Comics comic book Flashpoint. In the film, the character of Barry Allen (Ezra Miller), a young man who is the lightning fast superhero the Flash, discovers that he has the gift of time travel. So he comes up with the idea of changing the past to save the life of his mother (Maribel Verdu), who was murdered when Barry was 11-years-old. Of course, we all know that messing with the past will screw up the future, and also open alternate timelines.

Barry ends up in an alternate reality with another version of himself, who doesn’t yet have super powers. In this alternate world, Superman/Kal-El is nowhere to be found, but Superman’s nemesis General Zod (Michael Shannon) is preparing to invade the Earth. Barry does discover that there is a Batman in this world, but this is not the Batman that he knows. Instead, he is an older, retired Batman/ Bruce Wayne (Michael Keaton reprising his version of the caped crusader from the 1989 Tim Burton Batman movie). Still, Barry asks for Batman’s help to course correct this particular world.

Nostalgia is the key ingredient here, and this time it works, thanks mainly due to the filmmaker’s commitment to 1989’s Batman. Keaton has a substantial role here, and has a great moment when his character smiles into a mirror while stitching up a wound, realizing that he is back in the fight. This movie also makes prominent use of music composer Danny Elfman’s 1989 Batman theme.

Miller displays a likable on-screen presence as this character. It’s a shame that the actor appears to be a very troubled soul in real life.

Discussing the ending of The Flash could lead to spoilers, so vagueness will be used. There is action to spare in this movie, but the ending is more philosophical and cerebral than most would have expected. Was the whole adventure all for nothing, like when an entire movie turns out to be a dream? Or is it the point that your past triumphs and failures make you who you are? The Flash digs a little deeper. –David

Vicari