Luca
Run Time: 1 Hour 35 Minutes
Rating: PG
Genre: Animation, Adventure, Comedy
Summary:
Luca is a young boy with a strong sense of curiosity towards the surface. He lives a simple life under the sea, but after his grandma tells stories of the surface, his interest is peaked. One day, as he is herding his fish, he runs into Alberto collecting trinkets. After Alberto leaves his harpoon behind, Luca ends up like a beached whale as he returns the spear. Scared of the surface and his parents, Luca hurries back home and away from the surface. It doesn’t take long for his curiosity to take over, and he returns to the surface. Once Luca figures out walking, Alberto shows him all of the cool human things he has stolen/collected. Luca sees a poster with a VESPA and is instantly hooked. The boys try to build their own, to very little avail, and realize they must embark on the human island if they ever want a VESPA.
Characters:
Luca, is a young sea monster who has grown up being a cautious good kid who doesn’t break his mother’s rules. There is another art of Luca though as he is curious about the human world and what that world is like. After he meets a friend named Alberto he does begin to take more risks and explore the world that makes him so curious. Alberto is another sea monster who like Luca is just a young boy but he doesn’t live with his parents and he lives on land. Alberto is a carefree kid who just does as he pleases without worrying about what others think. Alberto just wants to have fun and explore the human world.
Sebastian: 8.9/10
Review:
I was looking forward to this movie since I first saw the trailer but it was in the way I look forward to every PIXAR film because most likely it will be quite good. Upon watching the film I would say that I quite enjoyed the experience and liked this movie a lot more than I expected. What I think really makes the film work for me are the characters. I felt that both Luca and Alberto were quite charming and innocent boys and I loved watching the way they discovered how the human world functioned and their interactions with others. I really loved the relationship between Luca and Alberto as you could tell they cared about each other deeply and looked at each other as the person they depended on. Then the story itself is quite simple with the boys just trying to win a competition to buy a Vespa but the simplicity of the story allows for the characters to take more of the focus. Another word I would use to describe this film is that it’s charming from the characters, the beautiful coastal Italian town, and the Italian-inspired score in the background of many scenes. As per usual, the animation done by PIXAR is top-notch with the backgrounds looking beautiful, especially the water and the way it moves and even the way the city looks. It feels very high quality and I would have loved to see it on the big screen. I also have to say that this movie was a lot funnier than I expected and there were many scenes where I laughed out loud and some jokes that I wouldn’t have expected in this film. The ending of this film is also bittersweet but I love that they stuck with it instead of making it all happy.
All in all, this is a charming and fun movie that I would gladly watch again. While it might not be Pixar’s most groundbreaking film I still enjoyed it throughout. I would definitely recommend it, so hop on Disney+ and see for yourself.
Favourite Moment (Spoilers):
My favourite moment is when Luca jumps out to save Alberto at the end of the film after Alberto is shown to be a sea monster. It’s a needed redemption moment for Luca and it leads to a fun chase scene to end the movie that ended the whole thing on a high note for me.
Austin: 8.3/10
Review:
Pixar’s newest installment, Luca, is pretty solid. It’s a really solid family movie with some awesome characters. The animation is remarkable, but the plot is really simplistic. We’ve seen a ton of movies from Pixar where there is both a surface meaning great for kids, and then we have some underlying messages or themes that tie it together for the older audiences. This doesn’t really have that.
On the surface, Luca has a wonderful plot that is both funny and ever-so-slightly dark. The pacing is really hard for me to get a handle on because I thought it felt really slow and long, but it’s really only about an hour and 25 minutes without credits. The lack of events in-between the beginning and the climax really hurts the pacing of this movie. I wouldn’t call it boring because it is still super entertaining and funny along the way, but it lacks a thickness to the plot. It’s almost one-dimensional, but if you aren’t trying to think too hard this a solid movie.
The animation is incredible, with the landscapes and the water, and our characters are equally great. The combination of great filmmaking paired with some awesome writing makes for a fun movie. Our characters have a great base to stand on, and the development is the best part. Even though they are animated characters, it’s super easy to become emotionally connected, and the emotional scenes land really well. For a fairly superficial movie, I thought the characters were deep and fleshed out a lot better than the plot.
Luca is a really quick watch with a ton of fun moments along the way. I would have loved a bit of secondary meaning, something to draw older audiences as well, but it doesn’t make it any less of a good kid’s movie. It’s a lot better than Netflix’s latest movies and for sure more worth your time.
Favourite Moment (Spoilers):
My favourite moment has to be the testing of the make-shift Vespa. It’s hilarious to watch Luca and Alberto dive bomb into the sea, and it shows the ingenuity of our characters as well. Our characters bond over their goal without the real means of accomplishing it, and it leads well into the next stage of the story.
Nathanyal: 8.3/10
Review:
It’s been a while since our last Pixar movie found in Soul, but here we are for the newest release: Luca! As a movie in general, this is a great kid’s movie. From the simple story, to the colourful setting, and the fun characters, this movie will bring some entertainment for the one and half hour run time. However, the simple story does leave much to be desired from viewers who want more meat in their plots.
To start off, there’s only one negative to this movie that really holds it back, and that’s the plot. Now, for certain movies, a simple plot is useful to focus on other aspects of the media, whether it be the characters or some philosophical idea. In the case of Luca, the simple plot doesn’t really do much for it. Although the characters are great, and I’ll touch on this more later, they didn’t really need the plot to stand out. Now, as a child and watching this, I would have loved it. The story is simple to follow and there aren’t too many surprises. From an older perspective, I feel like this movie could have done a lot more with its story and world. I just felt like it was lacking. The concept and characters gave it some nice building blocks, but they were never used to their fullest potential.
On the other hand, I really enjoyed the characters in this movie. Not only was the concept of Luca’s race an interesting one, but it also felt very natural. All of Luca’s responses to the events around him were responses I would expect from his position. Sure, some of them were predictable, but it was nice to have a character that you can relate with. Besides Luca, the supporting cast was also great. Alberto was a nice perspective and even almost a foil to Luca’s character. The way they contrast as well as related was refreshing and their interactions felt like something out of my friendships around that age. I also appreciate the human characters. They were all given a good amount of development and it balanced out the cast. Besides the characters, the animation in this movie is top notch and gorgeous. I think the animation and design of the water is what drew me to how pretty the whole movie looks. From the characters to the background, it was a very beautiful movie.
Overall, Luca was a good kid’s movie. It has a simple plot, a nice cast of characters, and stunning animations. For a kid, this would be a great movie to watch. However, for those craving more of a punch in the plot, this one isn’t really it.
Favourite Moment (Spoilers):
My favourite moment happens around the middle of the movie where we always get our usual down point in the movie. I really enjoyed the part when Alberto is revealed to be a sea monster and Luca betrays his trust. All the moments leading up to this moment felt very real. The dialogue and reactions flowed smoothly.
