The Movie: Luca
The Director: Enrico Casarosa
The Cast: Jacob Tremblay, Jack Dylan Grazer, Emma Berman, Saverio Raimondo, Maya
Rudolph, Marco Barricelli, Jim Gaffigan, Sandy Martin
The Story: A coming of-age story about one young boy experiencing an unforgettable summer filled with gelato, pasta and endless scooter rides, but all the fun is threatened by a deeply-held secret: they are sea monsters from another world just below the water’s surface.
The Review:
Remember the good old days when Pixar movies were always the most highly anticipated of the year and every single one of them delivered on the promise of being a beautifully animated spectacle that would dazzle and leave audiences in awe? I mean, they're still putting out good product, it's just not quite the same as it was during that initial run of can't miss box office bashing success. Now this movie comes out during a time when Disney is trying to figure out whether or not to release movies in theaters or push them straight to their Disney+ streaming service so the cinematic landscape is in a bit of a transition.
The story is set in Portorosso, a fishing village in the Italian Riviera and has a somewhat similar theme as The Little Mermaid, one of Disney's all time classic animated features, in the sense that a sea faring creature dreams of a life above water where the kelp is always greener. There is a bit of environmental commentary wrapped into the almost literal fish out of water story that doubles as a cautionary coming of age tale for its titular protagonist Luca, voiced by Jacob Tremblay. This could also be considered an action packed buddy comedy as Luca teams up with Alberto, voiced by Jack Dylan Grazer, on a Vespa filled adventure that leads through some pretty epic adventures.
As per any Pixar picture, the movie is stunning to look at and it's a shame that there will not be an opportunity to see the glorious visuals on a movie theater big screen. The bold colors and vivid vistas add to the adventurous spirit that is woven through every moment of the movie making for what could have been quite the cinematic spectacle. That being said, the movie is a joy to look at no matter what size screen you have in front of you and the filmmaking team makes sure that every effort is made to make sure the Pixar spirit is firmly embedded throughout.
The Verdict:
Luca is lovely to look at and manages to have a lot of fun even if it doesn't have the memorable moments and iconic characters like some of Pixar's top tier tales. Fitting firmly into Disney and Pixar's family friendly field of films, there's no reason not to fish this one out of their deep waters for a joyride through the Italian seaside.
No comments :
Post a Comment