Luca

"Silencio Bruno!"

     Luca is the first timely animated movie I've seen in a long time. I have yet to see Moana, Frozen 2, Onward, Coco. I'm still not up on Toy Story 4, mostly in avoidance of emotional devastation. The others I have no excuse for due to the accessibility of Disney+, but hey it's my life. That's why I was surprised to find the newest Pixar title, Luca, available for free. I hadn't seen a single trailer for it, and it being new I thought it would fall under the Premium Access model. To my surprise it's not! Luca was still able to pump some tears from this tired well, offering another timeless story with some great social commentary that I don't think has been this subtle and effective since Zootopia.

Source: Vulture

     Starting with a flashback, we're introduced to the seafaring dynamic of the Italian city of Portorosso, the type of old school, traditional town where depictions of seamonsters still dot the maps of fishermen. This leads to our introduction of Luca (Jacob Tremblay), a young seamonster who resides in his underwater farming village, that too, nicely mirrors the imagery of old Italy. Exposed to some treasures from above, he runs into another young seamonster Alberto (Jacob Dylan Grazer), who gets his kicks from exploring and collecting these treasures. Catching Lucas attention, learning that Alberto can go outside the water, he is forbidden by his parents (Maya Rudolph and a gentle Jim Gaffigan, respectively) of even thinking about going on land. Instead, Luca pursues his friendship with Alberto, going on land and both of them dreaming of getting a Vespa to travel and further explore the world they've never known.

     This is described as a "coming of age" tale, and in one context (which we'll get to) I agree. But this is a great story of the fleeting friendships we build, and how those new and old still shape who we are. Among their hijinks the boys come across young Giulia (Emma Berman), a spunky young girl with high hopes of winning the towns version of a Triathlon and rubbing everyone's nose in it. They join forces, knowing they can win the money to get their Vespa. Eventually a shift occurs within the friendship, but it's a shift of innocence and novelty. This movie plays with expectations nicely, starting off as one thing then changing into something else, while keeping things framed in the original synapsis. 

Source: USA Today

     The visuals offer a rich color palette that calls to the countryside's of Italy. Sun highlighting the tannish architecture, people gathered around the port where shops wait for customers, the bustle is felt. The water hues too add a nice contrast of aquas and blues. The boys especially, with their ability to change if they get splashed with water, adds a nice chameleon effect. I wish we had gotten to see more of Lucas underwater world, since it paralleled everything so nicely. Farmlands veiled in greens and blues, we only get a brief glimpse as Luca reins in his flock of fish.

     Now onto the "coming of age", social commentary stuff. The great thing with these movies is that they can resonate on so many levels. We can see this as a story of two boys building a friendship around their dreams. That is a valid interpretation that kids can get behind. However, with some proper subtext, such as Luca having a "forbidden friendship" with Alberto, along with a "curiosity" of who he is and the world around him, you could see this as a "coming of age" forbidden romance between these two boys. Apparently I'm not the only one who thinks so, and there's nothing wrong with that explanation either. You can enjoy the film either way. If anything I think the latter reinforces the themes of the movie more, specifically the ending with the predictable "Hoo-ray!" moment. It reminds kids, as well as adults, "hey, don't be a prick and judge someone based on who or what they are."

     Nice visuals, a touching story of friendship, this newest Pixar movie checks off the two most important boxes. If you have Disney+, you might as well watch it. It's free! Cuddle up with someone and cuddle them up that much tighter. It's that kind of movie.

9 spaghetti noodles out of 10

But that's just my opinion. What do you think? Comment below and be a part of the conversation!