There’s something special about movies that focus less on a specific plot or an antagonist to overcome and puts most of the attention into watching characters in their day-to-day lives. Many of the movies take place in the summer, which is the perfect time of year to kick back, relax and enjoy the weather while you can.
This is the case with “Luca,” the newest film from Disney and Pixar. As with all of their productions, important messages and themes are explored, and the lessons learned are good for kids to see. But all of my favorite moments reminded me of all the things I loved to do in the summer as a kid — ride bikes, go swimming, play imaginary games and more.
For the story itself, this movie isn’t really anything new or particularly special compared to the rest of Pixar’s filmography. There’s no question that it’s gorgeous to look at and the actors do a good job in their roles, but I don’t know if this one will stick out to kids years from now.
On the other hand, there is enough here in its depiction of kids, their relationships with each other and feeling different or in the wrong place while growing up. We’ve seen this type of movie before, even if “Luca” isn’t bad or even mediocre, but it’s got enough fun scenes and important lessons that it’s worth seeing at least once.
Young Luca (voiced by Jacob Tremblay) and his best friend, Alberto (Jack Dylan Grazer), spend their afternoons together in the Italian Riviera enjoying the outdoors and having fun like all kids should. However, the boys share and hide a great secret: they are actually sea monsters who live underwater, eager to find out what lies above the sea’s surface.
When on land, the boys look just like humans, so one day they summon up the courage to visit the picturesque fishing village of Portorosso. While there, the two meet a girl who is eager to win the village’s annual triathlon, and with the prize money the two boys can see the rest of the world.
Before long, the two wide-eyed explorers and their new friend will discover the true meaning of freedom, the importance of family and the catalytic power of acceptance as the trio gets into various hijinks all while steering clear of Luca’s overprotective parents who have come to the surface to find him and bring him home.
The film starts off with Luca’s life under the sea, which seems to be a lot like the human world in previous centuries. He herds fish like sheep, his mom works in a garden, they live in caves that look like houses from a couple hundred years ago. It’s familiar, but separate enough that the “modern” human world above the surface would seem strange and exciting.
But very little runtime is devoted to that under the sea life as so much of the first half of the film is Luca and Alberto literally being fish out of water. Alberto is that one friend who pretends to know everything and everyone and thinks he has it all figured out even though he doesn’t, which does provide a lot of good comedy.
A lot of the comedy comes from the animation, however, which is once again excellent. Although you never know exactly when it’s set, the film’s character designs and the comedic slapstick in the animation reminds me of cartoons from the 1930s and 1940s. It’s energetic and full of creativity, as well as beautifully drawn.
However, one of the biggest inspirations for this film was the works of Hayao Miyazaki, the Japanese filmmaker who has written and directed some of the best animated movies there is, and many of them are slice of life stories about kids, just like “Luca.” Sometimes, kids need to see movies about other kids just having fun, and I bet a lot of adults out there could use that, too.
Because by the end of the film, the grownups in the story learn the lessons that Luca and his friends have to learn. There’s a great message of acceptance, and some people not accepting you, that’s pretty important. Even if it’s not a groundbreaking piece of animation or transcendent storytelling, a movie about kids being kids in a beautiful Italian fishing town is still a fun time.
