‘Elio’ is a space adventure that ‘Toy Story’’s Andy would actually enjoy
[in other words, the kind of movie that ‘Lightyear’ should have been]
From my review:
Pixar’s Elio is the kind of movie that Lightyear should have been.
Lightyear, you may recall, was supposed to be Andy’s Star Wars: the iconic space opera that, in the Toy Story universe, turned Andy’s imagination from the Western mythos of Woody the cowboy to the sci-fi world of Buzz the space ranger. Except that Lightyear is actually a glum anti–space opera in which heroism fails and nobody saves the galaxy, your worst enemy is not the evil overlord but only yourself, and you missed your life on terra firma while you were misguidedly reaching for the stars.
“Your life isn’t up there,” Aunt Olga (Zoe Saldana) tells young Elio (Yonas Kibreab). “It’s down here.” It’s the same down-to-earth message as Lightyear, but Elio sells it as a Happy Meal instead of eating your vegetables. (Or being eaten by them—also an option in Lightyear.) It’s a kaleidoscopic, whimsical space adventure in which Elio takes on the evil overlord, saves the galaxy, makes friends, and then realizes that his life is on Earth with his aunt who loves him.
While this may not make it a great film, it does make Elio the kind of movie that will actually captivate young viewers in particular. Where other recent Pixar releases have been distinctly adolescent coming-of-age stories (Turning Red, Elemental) and/or focused on mature themes (Soul, Onward), Elio is fantastical escapism for children. It’s very silly; I almost want to say that, along with Lightyear, Elio is the kind of movie that Over the Moon, Glen Keane’s 2020 space fantasy, could have been if it hadn’t been too daft to hold together. Elio would be an ideal first theatrical experience for a young child.
"Older viewers may find it agreeable if familiar fare, as extravagant in its visual opulence as it is formulaic in its thematic and storytelling choices."
(Quote not contained in OP above, but in full review, https://decentfilms.com/articles/elio , if anyone is searching for it above)
As you say, what a fall from the heights of Pixar's glory days, when movies like _The Incredibles_ were truly great art, both in terms of the craft of storytelling in itself, and in substantive moral content.
Still, as you suggest by the end of your review, non-Christian art can sometimes very beautifully point us toward God, or at least suggest the possibility. (One thinks of Deacon Greydanus's review of _Eternal Sunshine_, https://decentfilms.com/reviews/eternalsunshine , or of movies like _Stranger than Fiction_ and _Arrival_. https://quantepast.substack.com/p/reflections-on-the-movie-arrival )
I'll take it.