Set on the picturesque Italian Riviera and at times feeling like a pale imitation of the work of Hayao Miyazaki and Studio Ghibli, Luca is the latest film released by Pixar and follows a sea monster with the ability to walk on land as a human who explores the coastal town of Portorosso (a nod to Miyazaki's Porco Rosso maybe?) with his new friend Alberto.
The early critical response for this film was unenthusiastic and lukewarm while more recent audience feedback has been very positive (just look at the average rating here on Letterboxd). Luca has certainly been resonating with some and I can see why. It's full of charm and tells a gentle story of youth, friendship and chasing dreams. It tries to pull off the simplicity of Ghibli films such as Kiki's Delivery Service or Ponyo and definitely succeeds in some regards such as the idyllic setting, but unfortunately this film fell flat for me.
The characters were uninteresting, making it hard to connect with any of the emotional moments or beats the film was going for. There were a few moments from Luca's parents Daniela and Lorenzo that had me chuckling, but this was mostly the only reaction that the film could elicit from me.
The animation is generally wonderful and is undoubtedly the best part of the film, but the character models are just plain ugly. They resemble some sort of horrid cross between the characters from the game 'Two Point Hospital' and Aardman's Wallace and Gromit. It almost felt like more effort had been made into realising the world and environment than the characters themselves.
The film is certainly not bad, it has some lovely vibrant animation and a distinct warmth and nostalgia, but it is exceptionally unremarkable and will be forgotten very quickly in my mind at least.
Luca certainly doesn't help to buck the idea that Pixar are losing their golden touch (Soul was maybe an exception to the rule), and it is probably one of the weakest films they've released since The Good Dinosaur. We can only hope that one day we will see the next The Incredibles or Ratatouille, but for now we will have to accept perfectly fine efforts from a studio formally renowned for excellence.
The early critical response for this film was unenthusiastic and lukewarm while more recent audience feedback has been very positive (just look at the average rating here on Letterboxd). Luca has certainly been resonating with some and I can see why. It's full of charm and tells a gentle story of youth, friendship and chasing dreams. It tries to pull off the simplicity of Ghibli films such as Kiki's Delivery Service or Ponyo and definitely succeeds in some regards such as the idyllic setting, but unfortunately this film fell flat for me.
The characters were uninteresting, making it hard to connect with any of the emotional moments or beats the film was going for. There were a few moments from Luca's parents Daniela and Lorenzo that had me chuckling, but this was mostly the only reaction that the film could elicit from me.
The animation is generally wonderful and is undoubtedly the best part of the film, but the character models are just plain ugly. They resemble some sort of horrid cross between the characters from the game 'Two Point Hospital' and Aardman's Wallace and Gromit. It almost felt like more effort had been made into realising the world and environment than the characters themselves.
The film is certainly not bad, it has some lovely vibrant animation and a distinct warmth and nostalgia, but it is exceptionally unremarkable and will be forgotten very quickly in my mind at least.
Luca certainly doesn't help to buck the idea that Pixar are losing their golden touch (Soul was maybe an exception to the rule), and it is probably one of the weakest films they've released since The Good Dinosaur. We can only hope that one day we will see the next The Incredibles or Ratatouille, but for now we will have to accept perfectly fine efforts from a studio formally renowned for excellence.