Nya Pixar-filmen Elemental får blandade betyg

Cannes-festivalen är ett utmärkt sätt att ta tempen på flera världspremiärer i filmvärlden, där både blockbusters och lågbudget trängs om plats under rampljuset. Likt Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny verkar dock Pixars nya film Elemental inte riktigt ha hittat hem till kritikerna efter sin Cannes-premiär, som nu har fått en rad blandade betyg från flera filmkritiker.

Peter Debruge från Variety skriver exempelvis att filmens premiss är överkomplicerad för barnen:

The element element, on the other hand, corresponds to practically nothing children know or recognize about the natural world. Instead of giving them a deeper understanding of Fire, Water, etc., the over-complicated premise creates all sorts of confusing new rules for them to learn — rules which don't really apply outside the film. "Elemental" is so elaborate and calls for so much exposition that the briskly paced movie is still trying to shoehorn essential backstory into the film's final reel.

The Hollywood Reporter-skribenten Jordan Mintzer hakar på och menar att "wow"-faktorn saknas i Elemental, likt många föregående Pixar-rullar:

In Elemental, Pixar's usual ambitious leap into the unknown is more of a safe dip into calm waters — water being one of the four elements driving the story, although only two of them really count here — and much about it seems extremely familiar. This doesn't mean it won't be at least a modest summer hit when Disney releases it mid-June, following a premiere in Cannes on the festival's closing night. But the wow-factor has kind of been lost at this point, and what we're left with feels like just another Pixar movie.

Även Deadline-skribenten Stephanie Bunbury var besviken över filmen, som trots ett kul koncept verkar sakna inspiration i storyavdelningen:

Elemental, a film that starts out with a clever concept and proceeds to build a world full of invention - exactly what we expect from Pixar - then uses that world as a backdrop for a protracted will they-won't they flirtation that could have been ripped from the script of a telenovela. I know kids are wise to the ways of the world these days, but that's the kind of thing that makes them simply embarrassed to be alive, especially when it culminates in a big, gloopy fire-and-water kiss and their parents are in the room.

Robbie Collin hos The Telegraph verkade dock mer positiv till hur uppriktig filmen är och att Pixar-skutan seglar åt rätt håll:

Thanks to some of Pixar's most open-hearted writing in a while, it develops into a genuinely sweet and moving courtship. Nor is it drowned out by the obligatory high-stakes finish - floodwaters surge towards the fire district - which instead affectingly tests the pair's blossoming love. While unlikely to feature on many people's favourite Pixar lists, Elemental brings with it the satisfying creak of a ship being righted.

Även Siddhant Adlakha (IndieWire) kan skriva under på filmens faktiska charm:

Despite its confused and overstuffed worldbuilding, "Elemental" has enough charming moments to get by, even if its meaning lies less in its ill-conceived immigrant saga, and more in the personal drama that lives a few layers beneath it.

Här kan du läsa om fler intryck. Elemental (eller Elementärt som den heter på svenska) får premiär den sjunde juli. Är du taggad på Pixars nya animerade äventyr?