Film Review - Elio

A solid Pixar animated original that deserves more attention than pointless live-action remakes of animated classics

Credit: Pixar/Disney

Apparently, Pixar’s Elio hasn’t done all that well at the box office during its opening weekend. At least, it hasn’t compared to a pair of live-action remakes of animated films that I won’t name, as they are cynically conceived and artistically redundant to the point of absurdity. That’s a shame, as Elio deserves to be a much bigger success than it has so far. Although not top-tier Pixar, it’s a good-natured, eccentric, satisfying sci-fi tale that also boasts the distinction of originality.

The titular Elio (Yonas Kibreab) is an orphaned boy growing up with his overworked Air Force aunt, Olga (Zoë Saldaña). Heartstrings are tugged immediately, though not with such devastating effect as the most tear-jerking of Pixar prologues, with Up (2009) being the most obvious case in point. Instead, Julia Cho, Mark Hammer, and Mike Jones’s screenplay quite smartly depict Elio as a believably flawed child, amid his obvious loneliness. He tells lies and is capable of being selfish, inconsiderate, and ungrateful, not to mention pathologically antisocial. The reason for the latter? After learning about the Voyager 1 probe, seeking out alien life, he desperately wants to be abducted by aliens so he can escape his dull life on Earth.

Astonishingly, Elio gets his wish, but plot mechanics too convoluted to get into here result in him being mistaken for Earth’s leader. He’s then asked by those in utopian alien club Communiverse (which he wishes to join) to negotiate with Lord Grigon (Brad Garrett), a warlord rejected from said club. Accepting the challenge, Elio’s negotiations soon go south. But then he meets Lord Grigon’s child, Glordon (Remy Edgerly). The paid bond, and for the first time in his life, Elio has a real friend.

There are also subplots involving cloning and other matters, but director Madeline Sharafian, Domee Shi, and Adrian Molina keep the focus on themes of friendship, belonging, parental expectations, and finding your people, with an eye for wise and ironic character arcs in the best Pixar traditions. There’s plenty of zany action and comedy, though this doesn’t scale the admittedly impossible heights of Pixar’s greatest films. It’s also perhaps a little rushed towards the end, though the predictable outcome does feature one or two clever moments of climactic crisis.

On a visual level, this is as beautifully animated as one would expect. Vocal performances are solid. There’s also a fine music score from Rob Simonsen. In summary, if you’re seeking out something to take your children to see at the cinema, I urge you to eschew the live-action remakes and instead opt for Elio. You could do a lot worse.

(Originally published at Medium.)

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