Synopsis

From Disney:

Set in a beautiful seaside town on the Italian Riviera, Disney and Pixar’s original feature film Luca is a coming-of-age story about one young boy experiencing an unforgettable summer filled with gelato, pasta and endless scooter rides. Luca (voice of Jacob Tremblay) shares these adventures with his newfound best friend, Alberto (voice of Jack Dylan Grazer), but all the fun is threatened by a deeply-held secret: they are sea monsters from another world just below the water’s surface

Review

I remember when I saw The Good Dinosaur for the first time. It was in November of 2015 and I was visiting my grandmother for Thanksgiving. I remember being excited because earlier that year, Inside Out had been released and was what I considered and still consider to be one of my favorite movies of all time. I have always loved Pixar movies so I was really looking forward to seeing it. The one thing I will say about that film is that it is one of the only films that was able to make me cry when I watched it the first time. I can only think of two other film right now and those were Coco and Inside Out. I thought that The Good Dinosaur was a very emotionally affecting film. However, I did not come out of The Good Dinosaur feeling the same way that I did about Inside Out or Coco or most of Pixar‘s other films. While I appreciated the film, I did not think that it was one of Pixar‘s best. If I had to attribute my experience watching Luca to any experience that I’ve had seeing a film, it would be to that of the good dinosaur. While I really enjoyed my time watching Luca (I had a smile on my face the whole time), I do not feel as if it is one of Pixar‘s strongest outings. ESPECIALLY since Soul was released not six months ago.

Luca follows the story of a friendly sea monster who is experiencing human nature for the first time. He encounters another sea monster around his age named Alberto and Alberto introduces him to the surface. Alberto only has one dream and that is to own a Vespa and “travel the world“. Luca joins him in this journey which involves winning a triathlon of sorts in the coastal town of Porto Rosso, where they meet a girl by the name of Giulia. If you are reading this and thinking “that’s it?,“ you would be correct.

The plot of this film is very minimal. This film is much more focused on creating an atmosphere and placing you into the Amalfi coast. Not a whole lot happens in this film. The stakes seem to be very low. There is a villain in the story, and there is the underlying hope that Luca and Alberto won’t be “caught,” but outside of that, there’s not much more. I think with this film being a Pixar film, people will expect a much deeper story. But, that is not the case with this film. There exists a very good message for younger people about excepting those who are different from you and there are also inklings of conversation surrounding education which I liked, but this film is not as heavy or as complex as some of Pixar‘s other films. This is a much more surface level story, which is interesting considering it’s a movie about sea monsters.

I don’t want you to think that I don’t like this film. I actually really enjoyed my time watching this film. I, as I said, had a smile on my face the entire time watching it. There’s something about the sense of childhood wonder and whimsy that this film is able to capture that I loved. The film, in a way, reminds me of Wes Anderson‘s Moonrise Kingdom. Not in terms of the story, but because of the shared themes of capturing childhood innocence and wonder. This film is also very similar to The Little Mermaid, especially in the time before he goes to the surface. There was a moment where I literally said, “Did they just remake The Little Mermaid?“ So yeah, this film is like The Little Mermaid meets Moonrise Kingdom. I never thought I would describe a film like that, but here we are.

The voice acting is fantastic. Jacob Tremblay is always in his bag and I am a big Jack Dylan Grazer fan so I really enjoyed him in this film. I also love Maya Rudolph so I always enjoy seeing her in anything (she’s played a lot of moms recently). The film looks amazing, as is the case with most Pixar films. It honestly made me want to visit Italy and the Amalfi coast. Just the way that the town is designed and also the look of the seascapes were just awe-inspiring. This film is funny. I found myself laughing a lot. And as I said by the end I did get a little emotional. I didn’t cry, but I felt something up there.

I think the best way to describe this film is charming. It has this effervescent charm and vibrance to it that I really like. The energy surrounding the film, or the aura rather, is just really positive and I really liked that. This film is more for a younger audience. It’s not as suited for adults as Pixar’s other films, but I don’t think that this would be an unsubstantial watch for adults. As I said, this film won’t hit you as hard as films like Soul, Inside Out, Up, Ratatouille, etc., But it is still very enjoyable. It is much more of a Good Dinosaur or an Onward then any of the other films I just named, but don’t let that turn you away from experiencing this very joyful and magnetic film.