Unapologetically Luca - review

⭐⭐⭐

I finally got round to watching Pixar's new animation, Luca and whilst I was underwhelmed with the story, the animation was incredibly beautiful and Disney have once again succeeded at making a safe, yet fun family movie that everyone can enjoy.

Set in a beautiful seaside town on the Italian Riviera, Disney and Pixar's original feature film "Luca" is a coming-of-age story about one young boy experiencing an unforgettable summer filled with gelato, pasta and endless scooter rides. Luca (voice of Jacob Tremblay) shares these adventures with his newfound best friend, Alberto (voice of Jack Dylan Grazer), but all the fun is threatened by a deeply-held secret: they are sea monsters from another world just below the water's surface.

The movie itself was fun. The animation was incredible, whilst still feeling animated and drawn as opposed to Disney's sometimes scary real animation. It had great voice acting, a fun score to accompany it and is stuffed with decent enough morals and life lessons for children, with the occasional emotional quote an adult may tear up at.

“Some people, they’ll never accept him, but some will and he seems to know how to find the good ones.”

As this movie was building hype and Disney was promoting it as a "summer movie" for all of the family to enjoy, there was an undertone of LGBTQ+ relationships being spoken about within the film. And whilst it could be insinuated that the relationship between Luca and Alberto could be heading into "relationship" status, they are ultimately just friends, which feels to me as Disney are still playing it safe - almost juxtaposing the message of the movie. Luca, by the end, is "unapologetically" him, yet is he? I am not claiming that the film was not successful because the two main characters are not openly gay, or in an open relationship, yet the message of the movie, and the fact that this movie's main target audience are young impressionable children would have given Disney the perfect reason to write a movie for the LGBTQ+ community, or at least start this discussion. The movie feels this way, but it isn't made clear. It feels like the audience are almost baited into thinking something is going to happen, or important messages are going to be discussed, and it feels that Pixar just aren't ready to talk about this.

Take the quote above - remove the context of the movie and the idea of sea monsters, this quote feels like something you would hear in a LGBTQ+ coming of age movie. Maybe, because it is Pixar, I am expecting every movie to hold important and powerful messages, such as Inside Out or Soul - and yet this film just missed the mark for me.

Having said this, I think it is important to still be showing emotional male orientated relationships in mainstream society. For too long, male relationships in media have been heavily 'masculine' and centred around "bro-ish" behaviour, so it was nice and a great start at projecting intimate and emotional relationships that rely on trust and protection of each other, whilst being centred around men. It was also fresh to see a female character within the movie that wasn't subject to extreme femininity or the necessity to be in a relationship.

It was fun, and will be enjoyed by lots of people around the world, yet I won't be rushing to watch it again anytime soon. Pixar needs to be applauded for its incredible animation skills, yet it would be nice to see them discussing some more important topics that could influence the next generation.