Elio movie review: Even a second-tier Pixar movie is better than most

Pixar did it to itself. It was too successful, too lauded, too untouchable in its immense creativity. Since the studio announced its arrival in 1995 with Toy Story, it had set the bar too high.

Yes, there were disappointments (The Good Dinosaur) and copious sequels, but the animation giant’s strike rate was just too good.

WALL-E, The Incredibles, Inside Out, Monsters Inc, Coco, Up. These are masterpieces in not just animation form but in all cinematic endeavours. Few could match it for ambition, visual panache and emotional storytelling.

Including, itself.

Is Pixar in a creative slump with its more recent output of likeable but not ground-breaking films such as Lightyear, Elemental and Luca? It hasn’t really captured the zeitgeist since before the pandemic, and even the buzz around Inside Out 2 was more about its box office prowess than the film itself.

Or is it just Pixar has finally come back down to Earth? Ironic, given its latest film, Elio, is about a young boy in space.

Elio is a charming and sweet little story that offers eye-popping visuals and imaginative design, but it’s also just pretty good, not amazing.

That’s the Pixar curse, when appealing feels like a bit of a letdown. But that’s only if you’re measuring it on a curve populated only by other Pixar movies. Expand that out and Elio is great.

It’s a matter of expectations, and no one expects any Trolls movie to be anything other than a headache.

Elio (Yonas Kibreab) is an 11-year-old Earth kid who feels very alone on the pale blue dot. His parents died not long ago and he now lives with his aunt Olga (Zoe Saldana), a major in the air force who has aspirations of becoming an astronaut.

Elio is obsessed with space, and convinced that he can make contact with alien life forms that could rescue him from his solitude. To his surprise, one night, he is “abducted” after aliens respond to his messages.

He is transported to the Communiverse, an interplanetary group made up of alien species from across galaxies. As an aside, can you imagine if in the 1950s during the Red Scare a Hollywood movie called a benign collective the Communiverse? They would have all been blacklisted.

Elio is beside himself, and desperate to join when he is mistaken for Earth’s leader. He feels more at home among this group of strange looking creatures than he ever did at home, and even befriends Glordon, a worm-like kid and son of a warlord alien that wants to dominate and conquer the Communiverse.

The design for the Communiverse and its inhabitants is dynamic and visually attractive, all pop colours and movement to contrast against the more monotonous palette of Elio’s Earthly surroundings. It reflects how much he wants to belong somewhere different because he think he is.

There’s no doubt that when it comes to the look of its animated worlds, Pixar really delivers the goods. There’s always something to marvel at.

As far as the storyline and emotional impact goes, there are poignant beats about loneliness, grief and loss as it manifests in children, and the journey Elio goes through to reconnect with his aunt Olga. It all works, but it doesn’t have that extra punch or heart-rending insight you might expect from Pixar.

Elio is perfectly amiable movie that will delight. Even a second-tier Pixar is better than most things in the known universe.

Rating: 3/5

Elio is in cinemas on June 19