Luca
pixarAfter a rather exceptional year of releases including both Onward and Soul, Pixar is back with yet another original animated feature: Luca. Transporting the audience to the charming, small ocean-front Italian town of Portorosso, Luca sees a young sea monster named Luca (Jacob Tremblay) go on the run from his parents who disapprove of him traveling to outside the ocean, where he can transform physically into a human with only the presence of water turning him back into a sea monster. Alongside his new friend Alberto (Jack Dylan Grazer), Luca hatches a plan to win a local triathlon to get enough money to buy a Vespa for both himself and Alberto to escape on and travel the world.
Drawing from animated inspirations such as the works of Hayo Miyazaki, perhaps the most noteworthy piece of the film is simply how minor it feels in plot and stakes. Putting the audience into the perspective of a child whose world is defined by their dreams and aspirations, the film's plot on paper seems lackluster but in the perspective of the characters, it means everything. This dream of getting a Vespa for the characters means the difference between life and death, and the film does very little to raise the stakes for the audience. Instead, it hopes to engage the audience not just with the emotions of the characters but clearly the larger atmosphere of the world they inhabit.
Coming from Pixar, it should be no surprise that the animation is genuinely stunning. Thankfully more stylised and unique than Pixar's common approach of simply capturing the world as realistically as possible, such as in features like Soul, there is a real energy and personality to Portorosso that feels both alive and magical in its own unique way. From the use of colors to the memorising architecture and style where the past and present collide – which Italy is known for – it is hard not to get lost within the spirit and soul of this world in the best of ways. Speaking of the filmmaking success of Luca, it also is hard not to give credit to the score by Dan Romer, who does an exceptional job, following up his work in films such as Beasts of the Southern Wild and Wendy. Whilst there are a few moments where the actual usage of this score feels a bit off, the score itself is easily one of the best in Pixar's filmography.
It also helps that the characters are simply some of the most likable in Pixar's history. Both rather simple, it is beyond easy to empathise with the emotional journeys of both Luca and Alberto and truly root for these characters. Pixar has become one of the best studios working today when it comes to manipulating emotions and, once again, Luca hits this out of the park with these characters. The dialogue and animations on their faces come off as so authentic and powerful that it feels like only a sociopath really could not have an emotional reaction to the film, especially towards the end. Praise also has to be given to both Jacob Tremblay and Jack Dylan Grazer who genuinely knock it out of the park. Both individuals have already proven themselves to be two of the most exciting young actors of their generation and Luca only furthers their already impressive careers.
With this, it is important to get to the true thematic weight of Luca. Since its premise and title has been announced, the meme has surrounded the film that it was Pixar's Call Me By Your Name, with both the premise feeling somewhat similar and Call Me By Your Name's director being named Luca. With the project falling under Disney, who consistently reconfirms its position as China's pet, Luca was, of course, never going to be openly queer but a queer reading feels almost unavoidable with the actual final product. Specifically with a representation of the coming out process, there are lines of dialogue that feel almost risky for the company with how obvious the allegory feels. Deeper, however, lies an important message of friendship and mutual support. Whether one wants to add a LGBTQ+ reading to this message is up to them, but either way it is clear that the thematic depth in Luca is rather strong. Though it does make Disney look even more morally disgusting to acknowledge this community that they consistently throw under the bus and attempt to profit off of at every turn, that conversation can be saved for another day.
When it comes to the flaws within Luca itself, there are remarkably only a few things to point towards. Truly the biggest conflict some audiences will have with Luca is simply its style. For fans of slower projects, such as the works of Studio Ghibli, it should be no problem, but for those used to the pacing of western animation, it could easily be off-putting and alienating. The pacing of the film also can feel a bit rushed especially in the setup. The film, out of nowhere, dives the audience into the underwater world of the sea monster only to then pull them quickly back to the surface, never letting the audience truly resonate with this world. It really feels like the 95-minute runtime deserved at least 20 more minutes to flesh out its world and pacing a bit more.
At the end of the day, however, these issues truly are minor. Luca undeniably has moral complications with the larger picture of the studio making it but in a vacuum is hard not to appreciate. It is a film that is both incredibly charming yet venomous in its emotions that can sneak up on the audience with their power and presence. While it did seem Pixar lost its track for a couple of years, this recent focus on original projects continues to give the studio new life and prove their power and ability to leave an impact.
