How This Works – Read Other Reviews
Hello Cinephiles,
Today we’re talking about the 2025 film Elio.
Story
This story has been told before from The Last Starfighter to Spirited Away the odd/special/trauma kid getting sucked into another world isn’t all that original. This is probably the first Pixar movie not to make me cry at some point. It’s cute and has a good message but it’s been done.
Score: 0
Characters
I was Elio at his age (without the dead parents) and I felt for him. He was well written and his arc was believable. I also really liked Glordon. The Communiverse felt like a lot of bumbling academics rather than diplomats.
My big problem was with the Grigon. I feel like they wasted time with him on gags instead of showing us his inner turmoil about his son. It would have made his turn at the end much more powerful if we’d seen into his head more.
I’m not even going to touch the ethics and horror at the whole concept of the clones.
I did appreciate the cameo of Kate Mulgrew and the archival audio of Carl Sagan.
Score: 0.5
Dialogue
The dialogue had a lot of sweet, funny, and silly moments. It was pretty good but felt very young. There was a lot of technology and ideas thrown out but no discussion about them beyond gags. Maybe after the critics said Lightyear was too advanced, they went way too simple on this one.
I did like the recurring gag of, “Goodbye. I love you.”
Score: 0.5
Visuals and Music
The visuals were stunning, but felt like they were the point of the movie. Like everything was built on the visuals instead of the emotion or story.
The music was amazing. I particularly liked that the Hylurgian’s had battle chants. That made them more terrifying and likeable at the same time.
Score: 1
Fun
This was a fun movie. Lots of cringe but still a really nice movie. The kids loved it and the rest of the family liked it.
Definitely not a movie I’ll be wanting to rewatch.
Score: 0.5
Overall
This movie is cute and works as a young kid’s first sci-fi but it’s not original and doesn’t have the emotional depths I’ve come to expect from Pixar.
Final Score: 2.5 Stars out of 5