The latest Pixar movie was released this weekend. It is entitled Elio and, to be honest, it was a film that I was not looking forward to because I just did not enjoy the trailers for the film. It is a brand new IP from Pixar and, while I have enjoyed most of Pixar movies, I just was not excited for this one.

After seeing this, I would say that it is a solid Pixar movie, but that I would not consider it in the top tier of the company’s oeuvre.

According to IMDB, “Elio, a space fanatic with an active imagination, finds himself on a cosmic misadventure where he must form new bonds with alien lifeforms, navigate a crisis of intergalactic proportions and somehow discover who he is truly meant to be.“

I did like the character of Elio, which was something that I worried about from the trailers. The film does a really good job of setting up Elio’s troubles and issues that lead him to look to the stars. Yonas Kibreab (who played Finn in Netflix’s adaptation of Sweet Tooth) does a solid job of voicing Elio, and I bought the relationship between him and his alien friend Glordon (voiced by Remy Edgerly). Much of the film will be centered around that relationship and if it does not work, the film will be in trouble.

The script does a good job of, while being familiar to other Pixar type films, avoiding the Pixar tropes that we have become used to over the years.

The voice cast is very good for the film including Zoe Saldana, Brad Garrett, Brendan Hunt, Jameela Jamil, Matthias Schweighöfer, and Brandon Moon.

The design of the characters and the setting is standout, creating a glorious fantasy setting for our characters to work through. It will absolutely give young children something to keep their focus on.

I do think it takes some time getting going and has characters doing things that they may not be capable of doing, but there are some good messages in the film and I do think it will be a good family watch. It certainly was better than I initially thought it would be even if it is near the bottom of the Pixar film list.

3.75 stars