A Writer's What Not To Do 2 or Luca Review

First off, it’s a beautiful film. I might say this is an even better realized world than Raya was. It is more solidly grounded. It’s vibrant and the color palette chosen is a visual feast for the eyes. I also like the different take on the character design. It has an Aardman look to the standard Pixar human design with a modern spin on retro, not 80s, but even 60s in its feel of a romantic era of Italy. Still, I have to ask as I always do after a Pixar film: “Would it not have been cheaper and quicker to just shoot it for real?”

The film as presented is a charmer. It’s nostalgic and romantic and a lovely little fairy tale that kids can watch and love as much as adults. That’s typical. It’s what I expect from Pixar. It’s boy’s adventure! It’s not Mary Sue and the Last Super Squee. This is a refreshing change. It’s also very personal coming from a single voice. So, I’m on board and I give it a strongly recommended A-

Trust your audience is wise advise for writers. Story-wise it’s almost as if they said, but wait! what about the kids? They need to be kept engaged with the funny! I say, trust your audience. Pixar especially has won the right to say, we’re not going to cater. Family friendly, sure, but we’re not going to cater. If they trusted their audience a little more they could have avoided setting the film’s base age at ‘kiddies,’ and had a more ‘generally for everyone’ feel like Soul had.

Trust your audience and embrace what your story is, is often good writing advice. Is this a nostalgic, coming-of-age postcard from a perfect summer on the Italian Riviera, or is it a magical underwater mer-creature story? Just because you’re Pixar, it doesn’t mean everything has to have silly creatures front and center. Not everything needs to be ‘read in between the lines.’ Not everything needs to make sure under-educated American toddlers, (of any age), have a laugh every so many minutes.

With the time and investment they made in the movie and in scouting the little towns on the northern Italian coast where the writer spent his youth, embrace making that love letter to a perfect, romantic summer of boys coming of age in friendship and glimpsing where they are going afterward. The girl, Giulia, the race, (cringe worthy villain character aside), are perfect for this. The dad finding a bond with Alberto—all good. Trust your audience and make that film. With animation this breath taking, the audience will go right along with you.

Instead, what we get is a wanna be postcard tale mixed with sea monsters who have to hide from the land monsters. The sea monsters, interestingly, all speak and act like modern American land monsters. Why? Their skin instantly transforms from the merest touch of water and changes back when dried. Apparently drying water in this world involves just swishing the air a bit with their hand in front of the moistened area. And they can’t let you forget how perilous being found out is. Every few seconds, the boys are shrieking and jumping and crashing out of sight so they won’t be caught. Is this a Disney Channel slapstick for little kiddies, or is this a general audience film? And when all is revealed, this sea monster hating and sea monster hunting village is instantly okay with them being sea monsters.

The villain is also over the top. It’s a kid’s race. He is obviously an adult. Why do they let him in the race? Why do they tolerate him when he is obviously not a kid and an abusive bully to everyone?

What I was hoping for from this film was a lot less of the slapstick “comedy” of the boys hiding they are sea monsters and a lot more of boy’s coming of age adventure in this Italian landscape. Also, a lot less of the undersea world all together would have given them more time to develop these characters. Though the transparent Uncle, (Punch his heart!), was hilarious.

Trusting their audience a bit more, perhaps the sea creatures aren’t revealed until the very, very end. Instead of hyper silly fantasy, make it more magical realism. Perhaps have the movie begin with Luca meeting Alberto in his tower. We aren’t shown they are are anything more than human characters. They each have reasonable, (if not a little odd), reasons why they don’t want to swim or get wet. They have the same type of relationship building, they do many of the same things, and eventually you learn about Luca being a runaway and Alberto waiting on his dad. They decide to go into the village and have adventures as they did in the film. A little bit of the fish out of water (pun intended!) trope, but they have a great summer meeting a girl, learning about the race and vespas, they have a kid antagonist in the race - not an adult, and Alberto bonds with Giulia’s dad just as events unfolded in the movie. There is more time for the boys to have a deeper emotional relationship, especially as the triangle of them and Giulia develops.

At the very end, perhaps, Alberto discovers Luca is a sea creature when his parents come and take him on the shoreline, perhaps a sundown moment after the end of the race. Only Alberto and Giulia see it—her from afar, Alberto from close up. They have their emotional parting. Luca has to go back, and Alberto has found a place with his new dad. Before it goes to black, it pans down to Alberto’s foot, it’s a sea monster foot in the water. He turns wistfully and goes home with Giulia. The End. A little bit of the “oh! what if…” kind of thing. It could have enough natural humor to satisfy that need, and it would have had more emotional impact at the end.

It’s fine that there is a certain ‘will they won’t they,’ and ‘are they aren’t they’ to each of kids relationships in the film as presented. The fact the boys are very ‘hands on’ with each other, the fact that there is a growing friendship between Luca and Giulia is all good. None of it needed to be expressed or explained. It’s just part of that summer when things awoke and things were beautiful between friends. It allows the film to be whatever the viewer needed it to be.

For what it is, I give Luca an A- as a truly missed opportunity… but then nearly all made by committee films like this are a missed opportunity.