Luca 2021
This Pixar movie was supposed to be released to theaters, but unlike Raya and Cruella, was instead released on Disney Plus. It seems like the enormous list of names working on Pixar movies has gotten shorter over the years as the technology gets better, and while I realize most of those people were technicians with no input on the movie, I think something is missing. This movie looks very cartoonish, like Onward last year. And it feels a little bit lighter weight in general. Not that I really want to return to the emotional anchors that Pixar sometimes attaches, but this movie is pretty simple, literally a fish out of water movie and buddy film. It is still imaginative and fun as sea monsters who transform to human form when they leave the water venture onto land. And there are some nice messages about friendship and people who are different. But it is also mostly by the numbers, which is probably why it was demoted to Disney Plus (not even Premier Access). I’m happy to get to watch it on a service I’m already paying for and I definitely enjoyed it, but it falls well short of Pixar’s best movies, an ongoing trend I am afraid. Still, it is entertaining enough to get a low B+.
Update in February 2022: I wound up buying the movie on disc (I now have all of the Pixar movies on blu-ray, but Turning Red is coming out soon) and watched the movie again. I will stick by my original review. There are some neat elements like the sea monster thing, plus Italian village life, and everything ends well, but some of the elements like the bully and the bike race are a little worn out. The good definitely outweighs the bad.
Written: 19 Jun 2021
Owned on: Blu-ray, DVD, Digital