Film Preview: Elemental (2023)

Film Poster

Page Revisions:

(November 27, 2022) Original
(April 2, 2023) New Trailer (#2) — New Posters (#3-#6)
(June 11, 2023) New Posters (#7-#18)

Release Date:

June 16, 2023

Synopsis:

From IMDb: “Follows Ember and Wade, in a city where fire-, water-, land- and air-residents live together.”

Poster Rating: C- / C / C (4) / B- / B / C- / B / B- (4) / B / B- / C+ / B-

SEE ALL POSTERS BELOW
Review: (#1) While it gets across the film’s premise, it does so in such a dull and uninspired way. (#2) While better at showcasing the film’s assets, it’s still incredibly uninteresting.

(#3-#6) A series of dull character posters that are interesting to look at, but are created with too little effort and thereby look cheap.

(#7) While there are a lot of interesting details with the characters spread around, it’s a very simplistic design with nothing of measurable creative zest. (#8) The backdrop has a lot of intriguing elements to it and while that’s not enough to sustain an entire poster, especially with the characters spread so far apart, it doesn’t quite work. (#9) We’re back to the empty backdrop and that’s just not an alluring fate. The 3D glasses motif is rather dumb on the surface. (#10) With a lot of background details for the city and a handful of nice character models, this works better than most of the other designs, though it feels a little busy in the upper third. (#11-#14) These four character posters are a little dull, but decidedly unique, which is a bonus. (#15) Putting the romantic leads front-and-center draws attention away from the busy background, but that makes it feel like a sloppy arrangement. (#16) The burn through the blackness of the background is an interesting stylistic choice, perhaps the most interesting that they’ve done yet, but the background is still just a little too busy to balance with the emptiness at the edges of the frame. (#17) Another poor choice to put the characters in 3D glasses, though this is mercifully a lot more rich in character detail than the prior effort. (#18) Using the leads to frame the background is an interesting stylistic choice and it effectively draws the viewer’s attention to the cast of characters that support them. A solid effort.

Trailer Rating: B / B

SEE ALL TRAILERS BELOW
Review: (#1) As far as teasers go, we get a lot more information about the film than we would expect. Some visual splendor helps the film go a long way towards impressing audiences while the central love story comes into focus by the preview’s end. Ultimately, a more comprehensive trailer will be required to genuinely know if the film’s worth your time, but the first one released is pleasant enough.

(#2) More details than the prior trailer and more of the story, the trailer nevertheless struggles to make a case for excitement. The animated effects in use are definitely impressive and may well secure its win in that category at the Annies, but they won’t entirely get this film an audience.