What can I say about Pixar's latest film, which premiered a week back directly on Disney + (and without the annoying "premier access" hurdle: hey, I was prepared to pay more to view Raya and the Last Dragon early, but Cruella? Come on!), that hasn't already been said? Critics have called it a charming little gem of a film about friendship, with likeable characters, which also happens to be perfect summer viewing. And - no great surprise - this is exactly what it is.
Some reviewers have been underwhelmed by the simple plot. They have come to expect more advanced, thoughtprovoking content from Pixar. But to me, the messaging in Pixar films can be a bit hit and miss. I don't always buy their pitches: for every Soul or Inside Out, there's a The Good Dinosaur or Incredibles 2 where what appears to be the central message leaves me pretty cold. Why is it so important that Arlo the dinosaur mans up: shouldn't his parents be taught a lesson about accepting your children as they are instead? Is wanting an easy life really such a terrible thing, as the villain (with whom you're clearly expected to agree on this point) claims in Incredibles 2? Yes, Pixar films usually make you think, but pretty often it's about why a film you've enjoyed didn't quite gel with you. An uncomplicated story in the Luca vein from this studio was welcome for me.
Having said that, I didn't look forward to watching this film, precisely because its message - as gleaned from the trailers - seemed so very standard. Please, don't "overcome your prejudices" again! Like so many films and TV shows before it, Luca seemed set to use a completely different species (cute sea monsters, in this case) as an analogy for some Beleaguered Minority or other. I'm not fond of these analogies at the best of times, and they've been done to death.
It's a good thing then, in my opinion, that the film doesn't spend too much time on the sea-monster angle, but instead focuses on the emotional core of the story. Luca is a sea-monster kid who has been warned to stay away from the surface and humans, but is curious about their way of life. So far, so Little Mermaid. But then he meets another sea-monster boy, the confident Alberto, who actually lives on land and loves it. He encourages Luca to surface and explore life as a human - whenever the sea monsters are on land, they take on human form, though if they are splashed with water their original appearance peeps through. The boys form a heartwarming bond. Alberto's the cocky one, but in fact he knows a great deal less about land life than he lets on, and it's pretty clear from the start that he needs the wide-eyed Luca's friendship as much as Luca needs his, if not more.
Luca's parents find out about his surface adventures and want to send him to the deep of the ocean with a weird uncle just to keep him from danger. This prompts him to run away and brave the small town of Porto Rosso together with Alberto, where in their human shape they team up with a tomboyish girl named Giulia in order to win a triathlon competition and get money to buy what they consider the ultimate ticket to freedom: a vespa.
The story is more or less an excuse to get to know the characters and explore their relationship to each other more. Lucky then that the characters are so engaging. I particularly warmed to Alberto: it mattered to me that Luca should not lose faith in him. (What with my sympathy for Barley in Onward, I suppose one could see a pattern emerging.) The side characters are good too, Giulia's intimidating-looking father especially. The small town of Porto Rosso is properly idyllic in a very Italian way - it's a good thing Enrico Casarossa, who directed and cowrote the film, is actually from Italy, or it might have been accused of being just a tad stereotypical when it comes to depicting Italian culture. Although the town makes a grand fuss over its supposed sea-monster-slaying heritage, you can sort of guess that when it comes down to it the boys are pretty safe: the residents seem genuinely nice as opposed to, say, the townsfolk in Disney's Beauty and the Beast who can turn to a threatening mob in a trice when confronted by something unusual.
There is one misfire in the characterisation, and that's the villain. I've wanted a front-and-centre villain in a Disney or Pixar film for ages, and Ercole, the protagonist trio's rival for the triathlon cup, is certainly that: sadly, he's also a bully, which is one of the least interesting types of villain out there. The character is a caricature, and while watching I caught myself wondering whether the film wouldn't have been better off without a villain (a very rare thought for me to have). In Ercole's defence, his plot function is probably primarily to be a bastard so that the rest of the townsfolk don't have to. You couldn't remove him from the story without upping the conflict by making the other Porto Rossians more hostile. And there is one useful villain lesson to be learned (which incidentally ties into the friendship theme): always show due respect to your minions.
It has been said that Luca isn't only a coming-of-age film, but also a coming-out film. To which I'd say - eh - yes and no. Yes, because the parallel between the sea-monster dilemma and coming out in a hostile environment is pretty obvious. The sea monsters could be seen to represent some other minority like immigrants, but as they look like "ordinary" people on land and are only in trouble if something they are hiding is revealed, gays seem to be the best minority fit (and some lines and incidents at the end of the film strengthen this interpretation). No, because Luca's relationship to Alberto, as well as his relationship to Giulia, aren't romantic, not even in a pre-teen Love Actually kind of way. The film does such a good job of exploring friendship that you risk missing out if you see the relationship dynamics going on between Luca, Alberto and Giulia as just another love triangle. Alberto's jealousy of Giulia isn't that of a discarded lover but of a friend who finds himself sidelined and less important to his best buddy than he once was. Giulia undermines him by showing Luca what human life is really like, but she's not aware of doing this, and she sees both the boys as great pals. Luca is drawn to Giulia not because of some physical attraction, but because he is intellectually curious and Giulia can provide him with answers.
"Friendship jealousy" is rarely depicted on film and on TV in my experience, at least compared to the romantic kind, and I thought it was really interesting to see it addressed here. That's not to say you can't imagine romantic complications ensuing further down the line - but during the scope of the film, these three kids are just friends. And as it shows, that can be complicated enough.
