This year the animated film studios are coming with everything they got, AND I’m LOVING IT! So far Disney gave us an awesome fantasy action adventure with Raya and the Last Dragon. Sony gifted us something completely unexpected with The Mitchell’s vs The Machines, a personal favorite to take the top spot in my top 10 best of the year. Dreamworks…did a good job with The Boss Baby: Family Business props to everyone involved. Now is time for me to review this year’s new entry in the Pixar collection, the adorable and heartfelt Luca.
I’ll be honest with you guys, I wasn’t excited to see this movie. But leave it to a lot of free time during the weekend to convince me and give it a try…and I’m glad that I didn’t let this magical movie pass by.
The last time that happened was when Cars 3 came out, to the point I haven’t watch that movie to this day.
The Luca movie follows Luca Paguro, a sea monster boy with the ability to assume human form while on land, who explores a town located in the Italian Riviera with his new best friends Alberto (also a sea monster) and Giulia (just normal human girl, but very cool nonetheless), experiencing a magical summer that everyone would wish to experience once in their life.
I wouldn’t say that the story is 100% original because there are other movies that follow the same trope of (in this case, is quite literally) the fish out of water trope that has been used before. And that makes Luca movie quite predictable because you already see the exposition, the conflict, and the resolution coming from a mile away. But that doesn’t make the movie less enjoyable and entertaining.
If I were to compare the Luca movie to a pasta dish. While the predictable story might be the pasta. The detailed animation, the themes that are explored, the message pushed till the end, the talented voice casting, and the personal touches injected into the story all form this delicious sauce that elevates the movie to a delicious experience. I gotta go get me some pasta before I continue writing. Delizioso, moving on then!
It’s not surprising that the design and animation in this film can be described as amazing, this is Pixar we’re talking about. In the last couple of years, Pixar films have stood out for nailing the texture of everything that’s seen on screen and Luca movie is just another one added to the list and you can see it in the two main characters when they are switching back and forth from their scaly skin to their human skin, as well in the objects the characters interact with like a plate of food.
But unlike previous movies from this top-class animation studio, I noticed that the design of the characters was made more rounder and their actions sillier so that ended up making them more cartoonish and in a way something fresh from what I’m used to seeing from Pixar.
Then you have the setting where the story takes place. Like previous Pixar films, the animators did their homework and traveled to the respective location so they could properly adapt it to the screen and it’s a job very well done. From the streets to the beaches, the detail is breathtaking. I’ve never been to the Italian Riviera, but the magic of films like this can transport you there or make you want to visit the real thing…so if anyone wants to invite me this summer I’m all in baby!
When you have all of these visual delights in front of you for an hour and a half, the voice acting for the characters shouldn’t be a problem or something to necessarily get right so the story can work. But it is actually thanks to performances from Jacob Tremblay, Jack Dylan Grazer, Emma Berman, and other cast members that the characters and hence the story can properly come to life. I’m familiar with Tremblay and Grazer’s live-action work, and they did manage to transmit some of their most notable features into their respective characters, like Tremblay’s innocence and Grazer’s fast-talking. You need actors that can properly give life to characters, no matter if the medium is live-action or animation. And by the way, is Maya Rudolph the official voice for mom characters? It is not a complaint, on the contrary, I support it.
Going back to the story, although the trajectory from point A to point B is predictable, you can still find a few surprises along the way. That’s thanks to the personal touches that director Enrico Casarosa took from his own childhood and injected into the story.
At its core, this is a tale about two best friends having one of the best summers of their lives, laughs and fights included.
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I believe that is precisely the thing that will connect audiences with this film. I remember visiting my grandparents during the summer, and the fun I had with the kids from the neighborhood. That’s what the film is all about, the dear friendships that we make with others and the importance that they can have in our lives. Casarosa chose to make Luca and Alberto sea monsters to adapt that feeling of outsiders that he and his best friend had when they were young, and that’s yet another thing that some audience members can relate with, I know I did. More than once, throughout my childhood, I felt like an outsider and it was hard for me to make friends. But I treasure the ones that I did manage to make with all my heart and have very fond memories almost a decade later. Iñaki, if you’re reading this I love you, bro!
The concept of being an outsider can apply to different things. I’ve read online about people with immigrant or refugee backgrounds or from the LGBTQ+ community seeing themselves in Luca’s story. While that might not be the director’s actual intent, audiences’ personal interpretations are open to anyone and valid.
There’s this general idea that the intensity and amount of tears that a Pixar film manages to get out from you is related to how good it is. With Luca, the ending got pretty close to crying my eyes out but it wasn’t enough.
For me in the end, this is a good film that is entertaining and made with heartfelt work from its team. Ottimo lavoro a tutti!
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Score: I’m not racing to watch it again anytime soon, but I don’t mind watching the Luca movie again in the future if someone offered me the chance.
