Review: Pixar's LUCA is a Wonderful Coming-of-Age Story About Friendship
Pixar has done it again! They’ve gone out and made another beautifully animated film that tells a wonderful, heartfelt story. Their new movie Luca tells a coming-of-age story about the curiosity of venturing out into the world, friendship, and doing whatever it take to get a Vespa.
The movie stars Jacob Tremblay and Jack Dylan Grazer as a couple of young sea creatures named Luca and Alberto, who end up meeting and forming a strong friendship outside of the ocean on dry land. Together they experience an unforgettable and fun summer with their human friend Daniela, who encourages them to try fun new things. Together, the three of them sign up for a triathlon race to win money for a Vespa. There’s also a local bully that they have to deal with who makes their lives miserable.
The town that the two boys find themselves in is known for its fishing industry, so the film makes it a point to show members of the community killing and eating fish. They are also constantly on the lookout for sea monsters and if they find them, they’ll kill them. This means Luca and Alberto need to be extra careful to try not to get wet, which would reveal their true form.
While the story is simple, it was told extremely well. Director Enrico Casarosa did a fantastic job bringing this story to life and it ended up being super charming. It’s also the kind of story that I think a lot of people can relate to. I’ve had this same experience as a kid of making a best friend over the summer and getting into all kinds of hijinks. Those were some great, memorable, and crazy summers!
There’s a sequence in the film where Luca and Alberto build their own homemade Vespa and ride it down a big hill off a ramp. I remember spending hours outside with my friends riding our bikes off ramps almost killing myself. To this day, whenever I see a ramp I get the urge to want to ride off of it!
Watching Luca certainly brought back some wonderful memories of my own childhood. The director has explained in the past that the film blends elements of his own life growing up in Genoa on the Italian Riviera. He explained that he “wanted to make a movie about those kinds of friendships that help you grow up.” He definitely pulled it off and it was absolutely charming.
He also explained that the film was inspired by Disney’s The Little Mermaid and the films of iconic animator Hayao Miyazaki, and you can most definitely see the influence of those things in Luca.
Luca is a great Disney and Pixar film that’s worth your time. Like most Pixar films, this is a movie that both kids and adults will enjoy watching.