James Gunn's new Superman film is a bold, politically charged reboot emphasizing themes of kindness, immigration, and global conflict, intentionally challenging conservative narratives and revitalizing the superhero genre with a message of empathy and unity.
James Gunn describes his upcoming Superman film as an immigrant story emphasizing basic human kindness, reflecting Superman's origins and current societal issues, with a focus on morality and hope in a divided world.
Thirsty Suitors is an indie video game that tells the story of Jala, a South Asian bisexual woman returning to her hometown to confront her judgmental mother and ex-lovers. The game blends an immigrant narrative with whimsical elements, allowing players to navigate Jala's relationships and family dynamics while engaging in activities like skateboarding, cooking, and dance battles. Thirsty Suitors aims to celebrate queer brown love and explores the complexities of family relationships in a lighthearted and humorous way.
Pixar's new movie, Elemental, attempts to tell a universal immigrant story through an interracial romance set in a fantastical urban melting pot. However, the film falls into stereotypes about minority isolation, strictness, and crushing filial expectations. The lack of deeper consideration given to its ideas leads to some ugly reductiveness, creating a metaphor for racial divides without exploring what causes them. The movie looks good, but its undercooked concept is a problem.
"Elemental" is a charming but somewhat limited return to form for Pixar, featuring anthropomorphized elements of our living world in a story that is partially a riff on an immigrant tale. The film excels in animation, but its formulaic approach and similarities to other Pixar films highlight the need for the studio to shake things up creatively. The tentative romance between Ember and Wade is used to bring in commentary on mixed-race relationships, but the social commentary fails to be as complex as it should be. Overall, "Elemental" is a decent original Pixar film, better than most of its late-stage sequels.
Pixar's latest film, Elemental, explores a city where fire, water, land, and air residents live together as a romance blossoms between Ember and Wade. The film's director, Peter Sohn, said that the journey of a fire family, who emigrated from their native fire land to start a better life for their daughter in Element City, was one of the leading themes. Elemental marks Pixar's first original, non-franchise theatrical title to be released in theaters since the pandemic. The film will be a major test for the iconic brand if its movies can still produce theatrical success.