Luca (2021) dir. Enrico Casarosa

A little Pixar flick that was easily forgotten during the post-pandemic movies rush. The movie revolves around Luca, a "sea-monster" that has the ability to turn human if he goes out of water. Some events transpires early on in the movie that thrusts him into a cute little adventure in a small italian town.

As with all Pixar movies lately, I do not need to mention the breathtaking animation! It excellently merges life-like scenery with unrealistic cartoon human characters, that produces a film that is just a joy to look at. Pixar, in my opinion, outdid themselves with their depiction of a small italian village during the summer.

Coupling the excellent animation, with great voice acting, a beautiful original soundtrack and a mix of great italian classics, you get a movie deserving the often-cliche description "Every frame a painting".

However, my positive experience ends here as I have multiple issues with the writing and direction here. While the direction and writing has this care-free low-stakes vision that mirrors the events of the film's adventure, it produces a plot that is weirdly paced, and has very low stakes.

Without getting into details, the movie does not provide us with many reasons to care for our protagonist's adventure. And that adventure itself does not have any deeper meaning or parallels that any adult would appreciate. If you have expectations similar to other Pixar movies, you will greatly be disappointed.

The characters also lake any depth, like Lucas' friend, but where it really shows is the incredibly 1-dimensional villain in this movie. What a wasted opportunity!

The movie makes up for its lame opening and second act with an exciting third act and an emotional finale. However, I expect more from a Pixar movie and this movie left me a little bit disappointed.

Although I will keep listening to the amazing soundtrack, this will be one of the few Pixar films that I will not re-watch again anytime soon. 6.5/10.