LogFAQs > #962313819

5. Luca

Karo: 3
Evillord: 5
Red: 5
Johnbobb: 7
Inviso: 12
Ermine: 20

Total: 52

Karo: The story of a young sea monster boy who wants to be where all the people are and walk around on those... what are they called again? Oh yeah, feet.
So Luca meets a more adventurous boy who encourages him to break all the rules and they both head on a quest to the dark and dangerous surface world to find a vespa scooter. Yes, a vespa scooter.
They get caught up in the everyday goings on of human society, make new friends, and enter into a silly relay race. Its like there not really that much going on yet it is still very interesting somehow, kinda like Pixar makes a Ghibli movie or something.
It all leads up to what I call the 'sea monster coming out scene', where the whole village accepts the boys for who they are, and then discovers that there were actually other sea monsters already living among them who reveal themselves too. It is the kind of beautiful thing that sadly could only happen in a fantasy story because fuck real life people.
This bit of allegory is certainly the closest Disney has ever come to having gay themes in one of their movies, although they wuss out by not really elaborating on the feelings of Luca and Alberto for each other (to me they seem a bit more than really good friends).
It is a very charming story that takes Pixar in a new direction of style than what we usually see from them, and I for one like where we seem to be heading.

Evillord: Luca might not be a great movie, but I love it. Yes the plot is predictable and the villain kind of disconnected from the main story, with the theme of prejudice being underutilized, but that's because the sea-monster transformation isn't really about bigotry. It's about the experience of having your whole world expanded by meeting another person. Luca's first time coming ashore with Alberto, and Giulia introducing him to science, are both beautiful scenes that bring across that child-like sense of wonder really well. All the characters are so easy to empathize with and the watery summer atmosphere is engrossing. Out of every movie on this list, this is the one that makes me happiest to think about.

Red: I'm just going to start here by stressing how much I appreciate a non-sequel on this list because I'm up higher on my list here and the disclaimer is almost a necessity at this point. We got a couple of fish people in human form making friends with a non-fish person working together to win a race from a too old jerk trying to win for the billionth time in a race seemingly intended for children. The friendship works and everyone finding a sense of belonging in the end was an enjoyable watch. Also I have to mention both Disney and Pixar now have a movie with a significant emphasis placed on being quiet and the name Bruno.

Johnbobb: JUST LET YOUR FUCKIN CHARACTERS BE GAY, DISNEY. LIKE YOU'RE OBVIOUSLY WRITING AND ANIMATING QUEER CHARACTERS IN THIS AND SEVERAL OTHER MOVIES BUT YOU NEVER ADMIT IT GODDAMN. Very cute movie, very fun.

Inviso: If I was not informed that this was a Pixar movie, I absolutely wouldve guessed this was a Dreamworks movie. I dont even mean that in a bad way, but rather it just didnt feel like classic Pixar, but rather something more standard in terms of its story. Its a nice coming-of-age tale for Luca himself, who follows the Disney princess route of living a boring life and wanting more. His parents naturally want to protect him from the surface world (which has a bizarre hatred towards the sea monster community), but he cant help but be intrigued. Meeting Alberto starts him on his path to overcoming his fears, but its the exploration of life in the surface world that leads to Luca surpassing his underwater bestie. Jealousy abounds, but Luca cant stop his character development on account of Albertos insecurities. Sure, the ending is a bit cliche, but sometimes a happy ending is cliche because it works and its supposed to work that way. In the end, Luca ends up as a very sweet and solid film, if not the best Pixar has to offer.

Ermine: This movie was never going to do that well for me. The whole idea... a more grounded and simpler story, along with its characters just isn't my jam at all. That being said it looks nice!

Luca just ends up being an average, predictable, run of the mill movie for me in the end, and despite a couple funny scenes, there isn't much for me to sink my teeth into.