Luca

This review may contain spoilers!

 

 Luca is a charming story set in the Italian Riviera detailing the friendship formed between a young girl and two 'sea monsters'. Watching this film felt like watching a folk tale or fairy tale come to life before my eyes, this was the sort of feature that quietly presented itself to you and never once begged to be watched. I watched Luca because I found myself drawn deeper and deeper into the story being woven in front of me; much like our two fish-folk protagonists steadily grew immersed into the human world. The film is very much a light fantasy tale coupled with a coming of age story, a group of young kids from various backgrounds become friends and work together to overthrow the town bully. The twist here is the message behind the film; how we deal with that which is different. Our two main characters are both fish-folk, however they become human in appearance when they are dry on the surface. This leads to an interesting story about how humans treat that which is different to us with fear and hostility, while also teaching us the value of why such behaviour is wrong. The beautiful friendships at the heart of this film feel so rich with emotion and the connection between them all is so strong that I can't imagine any audience member who wasn't choked up by the train station scene. The Italian Riviera is already a location viewed with a lot of reverence, but this film really sculpts it into this magical place. The detail paid to the design of the buildings, the little dockside, the cobbled streets or the rolling hills grounded me in that setting perfectly. In fact as a whole the animation is very pleasing to watch, with cute yet detailed character designs paired with stunning visual environments. The score for the film is a lovely blend of either Italian music or music from Italian artists and it couples with every scene exactly right, crafting an atmosphere that helps draw you further into the world of Luca.

 

 Jacob Tremblay, who voiced Luca Paguro, is wonderful as the protagonist for this film; Trembla makes you see things as full of wonder and has such a vibrant way of expressing all the new things his character is experiencing. Jack Dylan Grazer, who voiced Alberto Scorfano, is a lot of fun as the carefree and adventurous best friend; the hurt he expresses at feeling phased out of the growing friendship between Luca and Giulia is one of the strongest parts of his performance. Saverio Raimondo, who voiced Ercole Visconti, is a brilliant antagonist for Luca; his boyish arrogance and wild need for validation and praise mark him as a dangerous bully to the three heroes. Maya Rudolph, who voiced Daniela Paguro, makes the classic Disney Mum role an actually interesting character; Rudolph presents a mother who is fiercely protective and determined to track down her son by any crazy antic necessary. Marco Barricelli, who voiced Massimo Marcovaldo, is such a likeable father figure in spite of his gruff intimidating introduction; Barricelli presents a tough man who has a big heart that extends to the trio he comes to be the caregiver of. Sandy Martin, who voiced Grandma Paguro, is quite a fun minor role; Martin comedically deadpans this very intelligent role who seems to know where events are going before they happen. 

However, the best performance came from Emma Berman, who voiced Giulia Marcovaldo. This character zooms into the story with such fire and energy that it's hard not to love the role instantly. Berman voices a young girl who views herself as the underdog, the misfit of the town with no friends and a bad nickname. Yet she still seems so full of life and determination; she is ready for any challenge, be that bullies or the big annual village race. The easy charm Berman presents makes this character come across as friendly and caring, she welcomes the two fishy protagonists with open arms. At the end of the day Giulia puts herself on the line for those she befriends and loves and that's what makes her the undeniable heart of this film.

Luca starts in a rather slow way, detailing the divide between the surface world and the underwater fish-folk setting. The problem with this is that it doesn't really tread any new water; our protagonist pining to know what 'up there' is like shares a lot of comparative traits with a number of films. Disney even already had its own famous underwater pining hero in The Little Mermaid's Ariel. While the two stories are both vastly different, the beginning really does nothing new. Watching Luca get told not to go up there by any means while he steadily begins to sneak off feels familiar but when the narrative finally has the courage to break from the underwater world we receive one stunning piece of animated cinema.

Jim Gaffigan, who voiced Lorenzo Paguro, is a pretty generic take on the bumbling Dad character; Gaffigan is often in a scene to be the butt of a joke or to give a voice for Rudolph to bounce off against.

A beautiful love letter to coastal Italy and a visual fairytale that will undoubtedly live to become a classic. I would give Luca an 8.5/10.