Review of Luca (2021) by Theredsky — 25 Jun 2021

Cute at the moment but ultimately forgettable. Luca is another big step in terms of visuals for Pixar. The movie looks and sounds absolutely phenomenal. This, Soul, and Coco are probably the best looking Pixar films ever.

The score is really fun and works well with the film and the sound design is phenomenal. However, I can’t let the animation blind me to the fact that the story and characters are very subpar. Luca and Alberto have good voice actors doing a good job with the material but their character development is thin and generic for a Pixar movie.

I don’t remember a whole lot about their characters other than they are fish people. All of the other characters felt one note especially the villain who is awful. The villain has absolutely no development, motivation, or interesting backstory compared to any other Pixar film and it sucks because Pixar has cranked out some fantastic villains.

This story feels very generic and has very low stakes. There isn’t anything wrong with a low stakes story but it needs to have a solid story built around it and this doesn’t really have a solid story.

Events just kinda happen and they form a story but there isn’t anything deeper than that. It has some good themes of acceptance and belonging but they feel one note and not explored enough. I ultimately found myself getting bored at points which usually doesn’t happen with Pixar.

While Luca can excel in its visuals, music, sound design, and voice acting, it ultimately doesn’t have a lot more to offer than that. If you like Pixar then check this out but don’t expect it to be the next Ratatouille.