Dont Tell NetflixDont Tell Netflix

by Emily Nagle

[usr 4]

For the past few weeks, I’ve been seeing Pixar’s newest film “Luca” all over social media. On TikTok, Gen Z kids are making memes about it, and even documenting their trips to McDonald’s to get Happy Meal toys based on the film. As an animation fan myself, I knew I had to watch the movie, because what’s cooler than sea monsters (who live in ITALY, out of all the places in the world)?

Set in the fictional Italian Riviera town of Portorosso, “Luca” is about the eponymous character (voiced by Jacob Tremblay), a sea monster who lives a simple life herding goatfish on his family’s underwater farm. Luca’s parents (Jim Gaffigan, Maya Rudolph) have warned him his whole life to stay away from the surface, fearing for his safety, but he remains curious about what it’s like up there. Then one day he meets Alberto (Jack Dylan Grazer), another sea monster who literally yanks Luca out of the ocean. That’s when Luca discovers that he transforms into a human when out of water! Along with their new friend Giulia (Emma Berman), Alberto and Luca explore Portorosso while staying dry, keeping their secret from the sea monster-fearing town.

What’s unique about “Luca” compared to Disney’s other pandemic-era releases is that it’s exclusive to Disney+, where it’s free for all subscribers! Other 2021 releases from the company such as “Raya and the Last Dragon” and “Cruella” were only available via Premier Access, so customers would have to pay extra if they preferred to view the film at home. On the other hand, “Luca” can be viewed on the streamer at no additional cost, and is unavailable in theaters (except in countries that do not have Disney+).

My favorite thing about “Luca” was the visuals. The scenes showing ocean were so vibrant. I particularly liked the way they depicted the boys transitioning between sea monster and human. It wasn’t this big, elaborate sequence, it was more like whatever area got water on it would change. Like if Luca got splashed a little, then there’d be specks of blue on his face, and he’d vigorously rub them off so nobody would notice them. Something else that looked pretty were Luca’s imagination sequences. Having spent his whole life underwater, Luca is a kid with big dreams, and the aesthetic of those scenes really gives you an idea of how he sees the world above the surface. Like when Alberto is explaining to Luca that the stars in the sky are giant fish, and Luca imagines the duo traveling to space and seeing the fish up close. It shows how excited Luca is to explore this new world, and how he perceives it – it’s shiny and new, and seems like the stuff of dreams.

Even though the movie looked beautiful, I had issues with some aspects of the story. Some parts felt kind of unfinished, because new details would be introduced but not explained. For example, I would have liked to see more of Luca’s grandmother (Sandy Martin), who created an alibi for him when his parents asked where he had been all day. Why does she have Luca’s back? I spent the whole movie waiting to hear her backstory, because it sounded like she possessed some kind of knowledge about surface life that Luca’s parents lacked. Why Portorosso so afraid of sea monsters that they have fountains depicting people destroying them? What’s their history with them? These details being left out didn’t ruin the movie, but it would’ve been nice to get some explanations.

Although the relationships between the characters felt a little bit unfinished, I really liked seeing the character development of the kids. At the beginning of the movie, Luca is a shy, tentative kid, while Alberto is more confident, jumping off cliffs into the ocean. An adventurer, Alberto wants to get off the island and see the world. As they grow closer, Luca comes out of his shell a little more, taking a train to Genova at the end of the film to attend school with Giulia, while Alberto decides at the end that he wants to stick around Portorosso.

It’s the perfect movie for the summer, and not just because that’s when it takes place. The story is so sweet, and the Pixar team did an amazing job bringing it to life, especially considering it was created almost completely remotely. As in, the animation team took their computers home from Pixar’s Emeryville headquarters and worked on the film from their homes. While watching “Luca”, I was able to forget about all the craziness of the past year or so. I’d recommend this tale of friendship to people of all ages who enjoy feel-good movies!