Luca

Voices of: Jacob Tremblay, Jack Dylan Grazer, Emma Berman, Maya Rudolph, Marco Barricelli, Jim Gaffigan, Peter Sohn, Giacomo Gianniotti, Sacha Baron Cohen
Directed by: Enrico Casarosa
Rating: PG
Genre: Animation, Adventure, Comedy
2021

Times Seen:
Tim: 1

Summary: Two sea monsters (Jacob Tremblay) join the human world and set off on an adventure while trying to keep their true natures secret.

Review:

Tim: I really believe Pixar has been much more uneven in terms of quality than most people acknowledge. So, perhaps it's not surprising that after Soul (their best film in over a decade) that their next would come back to Earth. Luca is never a bad movie, but it's a deeply normal one. Everything about this movie just screams second tier. It's a good film- truly, it is, but there's nothing that suggests this will be a movie kids will want to return to again and again. There's so little staying power with this film. It'll deeply resonant with some children for sure, but across the board, this is undoubtedly one of Pixar's least inspired efforts.

I actually do enjoy the premise and the message. In not so subtle terms, this story is about being true to who you are, not hiding your true self from the rest of the world. It can obviously be frightening and at times, dangerous to do that. However, long-term, we need people (especially children) to be who they are and for the rest of society to accept them, even if they might be a bit different from the historical societal "norms". That message is incredibly powerful and essential for young viewers in 2021. I sincerely hope kids see this movie and take that message to heart. We need more movies that preach acceptance. I have no qualms or issues with the message or how it's delivered. My concerns are more about how this isn't that good of a movie.

While watching the film, I really struggled to get into the story or the characters. I appreciated the Italian setting- it certainly helped to differentiate this movie. Especially for us Americans, we're so used to seeing films set in America with our culture and values front and center. I truly appreciated this different setting and I hope more movies embrace this kind of diversity (and all other kinds, too). So, the issue isn't the setting. It's the story and it's the characters. My six year-old son wasn't all that engaged as well. He liked moments of the film, but occasionally asked us to turn it off. I just asked him what he remembered about the film and he said he didn't really like it and there was a lot about people wanting to kill Luca and his friend. That's not a bad summary.

The movie might have messages of acceptance and friendship and that's all really cool. The story, though, leaves a lot to be desired. These two sea monsters infiltrate a human village and decide to join an annual triathlon-type event (swimming, eating pasta, and cycling, because why not) to win the reward so they can buy a Vespa and have adventures together. Honestly, that story is a letdown. It almost feels shocking that Pixar went forward with that story. The sea monsters/human piece is a brilliant metaphor for hiding who you really are, but the story itself feels so small stakes, so bizarrely constructed. It's so difficult to care about what we're seeing on screen.

Among other issues, I really didn't care for how Luca's parents were utilized. They spend much of the movie in a very small village, trying to locate their son. The way that they do this is drench children to see if they'll turn into sea monsters. I still don't understand the reasoning for this. Sure, this premise accounts for the film's funniest scene (the parents pushing kids into water was honestly hilarious), but it makes no sense. If they found Luca, they'd immediately expose him as being a sea monster, in the middle of a human village filled with people determined to kill him. How does this make any sense? What parents would do something like this? It honestly felt like the movie wasn't trying very hard, when we get scenes like this.

The characters were fine, but their personalities are all pretty weak. The sea monster/human transformation thing was very cool and the movie leveraged this for some really impressive animation. However, these are not iconic characters. Luca is... mostly an average boy. Alberto is full of hot air, but kinder than his rough exterior allows him to recognize. Giulia is your typical Italian girl. The bully is a bully. Honestly, all of the characters just seemed so underdeveloped. If you're interested in a better depiction of a sea-faring character coming to dry land, see The Little Mermaid. Ariel has her problems, but at least she was memorable. Pixar really didn't do much to develop truly memorable characters here.

The cast was solid. I like Jacob Tremblay and he was effective as Luca. Jack Dylan Grazer and Emman Berman were fine. I had no big complaints. Maya Rudolph and Jim Gaffigan worked well as Luca's parents. Again, everything here was fine, but no real standouts among the cast.

I want to stress that Luca is a good movie. It delivers a powerful, life-affirming message that I hope young viewers take to heart. However, in the pantheon of Pixar films, this will always be one of the more forgettable entries. I'd be surprised if anyone mentions this film as especially good or memorable a decade from now. It's a good film, but Pixar has done so much better. I hope their next improves on this, but I do want to acknowledge that Pixar has done 8 films worse than this, too. So, Luca fits in somewhere low-middle of the pack. That's not good enough.

Rating 1-10
Tim's Rating: 7



If You Enjoyed This Movie, We Recommend: Onward, The Good Dinosaur, Up