Pixar have been really struggling to retain their sense of identity in recent years. That notorious announcement about the studio shifting focus toward sequels over original ideas put its remaining original output under more scrutiny than ever. And while there have been some undeniable hits (Coco, Soul), there’s also been a string of films that are harder to warm to (Elemental, Turning Red, Luca). Even the stronger films feel smaller in scale – it’s been eight years since Pixar released something that could seriously contend for “Best Pixar Film Ever” (that would be Coco, again). That’s not inherently a flaw, but it does speak to a dip in ambition.

Elio delivers on the ambition front at least, with an impressive scale and universal themes that will appeal to audiences of all ages. Yet it’s also overstuffed, rushed, with a problematic protagonist. It follows the eponymous Elio (Yonas Kibreab), an orphan living with his aunt Olga (Zoe Saldaña),on a military base. Feeling untethered and alone, he channels all his energy into sending messages into space, in the hope of making a connection. When one of those messages finally lands, it’s with the Communiverse – an intergalactic council of life forms who mistakenly believe Elio is Earth’s leader, and just the person to help defend them from a brutal warlord, Lord Grigon (Brad Garrett).

There’s been some well-documented behind-the-scenes turbulence with this film – directorial duties changing hands at least once during production. This isn’t exactly new, recalling the drama of The Good Dinosaur and Brave, both of which still managed to retain some of the magic that made Pixar such a force to be reckoned with. Unfortunately, Elio doesn’t quite pull this off. Like The Good Dinosaur, Elio juxtaposes some of Pixar’s most stunning technical animation with some of its least appealing character design. The studio has really committed to this “CalArts” / “Bean Mouth” aesthetic, which brings a uniformity to the animation that prevents the film from standing out as much as it could..

The design of the larvae-like Glordon (Remy Edgerly) is a case in point. The decision to give him no eyes is bizarre, especially from a studio that made us fall in love with a robot whose sole expression came from his binocular eyes. It’s ambitious, but also one of Pixar’s most off-putting character designs. To their credit, they almost pull it off, largely thanks to Edgerly’s spirited vocal performance, and he emerges as the most likeable character in the film. His relationships with both Elio and his domineering father provides much of the film’s emotional core.

The sweeping celestial landscapes are suitably epic, and awe-inspiring, but there’s a notable lack of beauty. It trades the poetic elegance of Wall_E for a much more bombastic, overwhelming sense of scale, suitably accompanied by a voice over from Carl Sagan.

At its heart, Elio is a story about loneliness, identity, and the need to belong – universal themes that are ripe for pathos. There are genuinely affecting moments scattered throughout, but they often feel forced, and the emotional payoff doesn’t quite land. Even Elemental, a film I liked but didn’t love, had a couple of moments that tugged the heart strings in a way that felt organic and original. Curiously, the most affecting sequence in Elio doesn’t involve the title character at all, but rather the villain. It’s a beat that feels signposted to within an inch of it’s life, but it still works, and shows a hint of the layered storytelling Pixar is known for.

Unfortunately, the film’s emotional arc feels incredibly rushed. Elio begins his journey with an unappealing combination of selfishness and emotional detachment, with a blinkered worldview that may test the patience of older viewers. He is so obsessed with finding life on other planets that he ignores the family and new friends he has on earth. There’s a great deal of nuance buried deep in the film, but the story is so rushed that we don’t really get as much pathos from his character as we should. He’s just not likeable early on, and he comes across as obsessive and self-centred rather than lonely or grieving. A tragic backstory alone does not a sympathetic character make. And while his eventual transformation is touching, it arrives a little too late for us to fully invest. Still, there are glimmers of pathos in his relationship with Glordon and his aunt, but they feel like late-stage course corrections rather than organic growth..

Still, the writing is as on-point as ever, with several laugh out loud moments. Elio’s clone is very funny, although some of his scenes tread surprisingly close to body horror, and it’s a little jarring how there is little to no introspection about his ultimate fate. I loved the self-satisfied delivery of “he found the mint!” and the recurring joke of Elio’s initial sign-off “Ok, bye, I love you!” being misappropriated as a traditional Earth greeting is a classic Pixar bit, beginning as a joke, before gaining some real poignancy by the film’s end.

Narratively, Elio doesn’t chart new territory. It revisits well-worn Disney / Pixar territory — the human child meets otherworldly companion formula (Lilo & Stitch, Ron’s Gone Wrong) and the increasingly tired “liar revealed” trope. While these devices are competently executed, they lack the freshness of recent Pixar originals, all of which embraced unique perspectives and emotional stakes.

There’s an irony in the fact that Elio, an original concept from a studio known for creativity, feels like one of Pixar’s more generic offerings. It’s been described as the best Pixar film in years which I think is selling Elemental, Soul and Turning Red short. For all those film’s issues, they were at least trying something new, telling culturally grounded, deeply personal stories. Elio treads some very well trod ground. It does it well, but it’s not a particularly original story. The universal themes of loneliness and grief are a double edged sword that means that yes it’s a lot more accessible, but also more generic and conventional.

It’s not so much that Elio is a bad film, but it is perhaps the final nail in the coffin ofPixar being a separate entity to Disney. I am painfully aware that I, a 37 year old man, am not the target audience for this film. And for what it’s worth my five year old son absolutely loved Elio – although he loved The Minecraft Movie so his judgement is questionable to say the least!

Ultimately, Elio is a perfectly fine, frequently charming kid’s film, with moments of visual wonder and solid voice performances (particularly from Kibreab and Edgerly). But for adult fans of Pixar hoping for the studio’s trademark blend of innovation and emotional heft, it might feel a bit frustrating. I’m loathe to criticise it too much because really this is supposedly what we want more of, an original film from a studio we’ve begged to return to original stories. It’s just that, for an original film, it’s not that.

Elio is in cinemas now