Elio

by Mike McGranaghan

It’s a cause for excitement every time Pixar releases a new movie. The studio has pumped out more than a few classics in the last thirty years, Toy Story, Finding Nemo, Wall-E, and Inside Out chief among them. Nobody hits a home run every time at bat, though. The studio’s latest, Elio, is not at the classic level. This one is more at the level of Elemental or Luca, which is to say it’s sturdy and entertaining but without the storytelling richness that defines Pixar’s best work.

Elio (voiced by Yonas Kibreab) is an orphaned boy being cared for by his aunt Olga (Zoe Saldaña). She works at an army base, monitoring space debris. The misfit Elio, who dreams of being abducted by aliens, secretly uses the base’s equipment to send a message into the cosmos. Lo and behold, it’s received by the “Communiverse,” a collective of intelligent alien species dedicated to making the galaxy a kinder, more empathetic place. They promptly arrive to snatch him up. Once in their company, Elio gets put in the middle of a conflict with a galactic warrior named Lord Grigon (Brad Garrett). Only his accidental friendship with Grigon’s snail-like son Glordon (Remy Edgerly) can potentially defuse it.

Elio utilizes elements that we’ve seen in a variety of other animated science-fiction family movies, including Home, Monsters vs. Aliens, and Disney’s Strange World. There’s a mix of crazy looking aliens and interstellar gizmos. For that reason, it doesn’t feel entirely fresh. The animation, although typically Pixar gorgeous, renders images with a familiar vibe. Even if the sensation of witnessing a whole new world isn’t there, every single shot is still packed with bright, colorful visual detail that holds your attention.

The plot touches on common themes of kindness and finding acceptance. Again, not exactly revelatory. The miracle of Wall-E was how it continually found new levels of depth as it went on. It had a surface story, with finely tuned social satire running underneath. This movie doesn’t dig as deep, but it certainly handles the subject manner in a sensitive way guaranteed to resonate with the young target audience.

Where Elio scores is in the humor department. The movie is filled with funny jokes and sight gags, including a few provided by a clone made of the title character. Interplay between Elio and Glordon is similarly funny. Cleverly, the two have a great deal in common so they’re like mirrors of each other despite being entirely different lifeforms. Excitement meshes with comedy for a rousing finale that bounces around between Earth and the Communiverse ship.

Families have come to count on Pixar to provide quality entertainment. By and large, they have lived up to that contract. Elio continues the tradition. It doesn’t hit the highs of their top-tier work, yet it absolutely delivers the eye-popping fun that has made Pixar a perpetually safe bet.

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