Elemental got released today in the Netherlands, so i went to the first viewing... and...
This was boring.
I had expected a standard go-find-yourself / coming-of-age adventure. And I got a romcom. There was much more focus on the romance and the relationship than I had expected from the trailer. Of course, I thought they would end up together, but I had expected this to be the side story.
The coming of age was an after thought. Ember seems perfectly happy to take over the business and that she wanted something completely different came out of thin air for me after 75% of the movie. And also finding what she does want to do was found within 2 seconds. Maybe it was in there and very subtle, but I can't remember that there was a focus of Ember making some art from glass till they are at the beach. When before she repairs something in the store, it is so casual, it seemed like a random thing anyone in Firetown can do.
Other things that seemed important but weren't giving any weight. Like special flower, that this important to Ember comes very late in the story. It is touched upon, but they could have improved it. Going to the station to see it felt random for me. I would have rather that they came up with a scene more tied to Ember's glassblowing talent. That Wade takes her somewhere where she can explore more to find her passion. I didn't believe some of Ember's emotions.
The bowing thing the same. We do not hear about it till very late in the story. Too late to give it a lot of weight if it is only brought up once. But I assume this is in there to beat in even more that this is a story about immigrants.
What annoyed me that we do not see the water problem get solved. We have the big dramatic scene and then we never talk about it again. If something is the first big quest in the movie, the one that is also going to be your climax, I want to see it fully solved.
The ending... yeah... it might surprise kids, but I sure hope that every adult sees what is coming.
And one final thought: Why is Bernie not wearing a shirt but pants?!
sorry, I just noticed, everyone is wearing a shirt/dress/top, but not Bernie.
Didn't I like anything? I was bored for the most time. But I did like the scene with Wade's family. That was cute. I liked how they solved how Ember could be in the room.