I feel like at this point I have a pretty good idea of what Pixar movies (that aren’t sequels) are going to do: have a great message, be really funny, and make me cry within the first five minutes of the movie. (Or the last five minutes. Or both.)

I didn’t know much about Luca before Ben and I watched it, but it looked cute and I did know it was set in Italy. That alone was enough to make this Italian-American girl sit down with a plate of gnocchi and pull up Disney+. And I was pleasantly surprised at how much I enjoyed it! Luca is a really sweet, lighthearted summer film about friendship that made me want to pack up immediately and head to Italy for some sunshine and pesto. And it didn’t even make me cry! *this is a good thing

Troviamo il Signor Vespa!

Luca is a sea monster who can turn into a human boy when he steps on land, and he doesn’t even need to make a bargain with a creepy sea witch to do it. He spends his days herding little sheep-like fish and occasionally finding fascinating objects that have been dropped by the humans on the surface. But although he is intrigued by the surface and the humans there, Luca is too scared to leave the water, as his parents have warned him to stay away from the humans and their harpoons.

When Luca befriends Alberto, another sea monster who claims to know all about the human world, he will step onto dry land for the first time and discover the world above the surface–and that it includes pasta, Vespas, and good friends.

Luca and Alberto spend their time on land trying to make a Vespa of their own, until Luca’s parents figure out what he’s been up to and decide to put a stop to his surface visits by sending him to the deep with his…angler fish-like uncle? Whatever he is, he’s creepy, and Luca is not having it. He and Alberto disguise themselves as human boys and sneak into the human village, where they meet Ercole, a bully complete with a Vespa of his own and two sidekicks to do his bidding, and Giulia, a misfit who is determined to beat Ercole at the village’s Portorosso Cup race and end his “reign of injustice.”

Hoping to win enough money to buy a real Vespa and travel the world, Luca and Alberto team up with Giulia to enter the Portorosso Cup together. They’ll have to learn to do a few human things, like how to ride a bike and how to eat pasta with a fork. (This is an Italian race after all—of course pasta eating is part of it.) And they’ll have to deal with Ercole, who will do anything (especially if it involves a harpoon) to sabotage them before the race.

Bike First, Vespa Later

Luca is different from other Pixar movies, most notably, I think, in that it didn’t destroy my emotions the way many other Pixar movies have done. Honestly, though, I thought this was one of the best things about it. It was lighthearted and fun rather than taking me on this deep emotional journey, and that was kind of what I had been needing lately: just a fun escape to the Italian coast. 

Along with this, Luca was also really funny. Ben and I spent most of the movie laughing at Luca and Alberto’s escapades. I grew up in a family with all girls, so I didn’t quite get why the dialogue between the two boys was so random and off-the-walls until Ben, who grew up with four brothers, told me that this is pretty much what happens when boys goof off together. 

When the sea monsters sneak into the human town and start trying to interact with the locals, they make lots of hilarious blunders that get them more than a few funny looks and are part of the reason they first run afoul of Ercole. Alberto pretends to know everything about interacting with humans and the world above the surface, but the more time he and Luca spend in the village, it becomes clear that he’s just making things up as he goes, which is really endearing and really funny. (Apparently the stars are actually anchovies, and the moon is a big fish. Who knew?)

I also just appreciated Luca’s arc as a character. As he spends more time with Giulia and learns how much there is to learn about life, the universe, and everything, his thirst for knowledge grows. He eventually has to choose whether he wants to go to astronomy school with Giulia or travel the world with Alberto on their Vespa as originally planned. This seemed a little like a left turn for the plot to take, but I loved watching Luca’s desire to learn grow and loved that it was a good thing, instead of made out to be a problem like it usually is in Disney movies. 

Luca definitely wasn’t perfect. The movie took a long time to get the sea monsters to the human village, and for a while it just felt like the whole thing was going to be about Luca and Alberto playing around and trying to roll their homemade Vespa down a hill over and over again. The ending also felt like it tied everything up a little quickly, and there were a few things I didn’t get (like, why can they even turn into humans in the first place?). 

Overall, though, it was so laid back, charming, and fun that I didn’t really dwell on any of that. It took me back to the summer in high school when I got to visit Italy with my family. The narrow streets and beautiful old buildings in Luca reminded me so much of the village where my grandparents grew up. More than anything, Luca’s sense of discovery as he spends more time learning about the human world reminded me of how big and wonderful the world seemed to me then, as a teenager just beginning to explore different parts of it. I too decided I wanted a Vespa during that trip, but my parents didn’t cave to that particular teenage request (which was probably a good thing!). 

And, of course, it made me hungry for pesto. So, of course, I looked up a recipe and tried it out. Let me tell you, I’m never going back to the store-bought jarred stuff again.

I don’t think it’s my favorite Pixar movie, but it was definitely the Pixar movie I needed right now. I’ll look forward to watching it again anytime—as long as there’s going to be some real-life gelati or pasta involved soon afterwards.

Who to Watch With

Honestly, I would watch Luca with anyone. It was sweet and simple without being boring, and there was plenty of conflict without anything scary, although there are a couple of near misses with harpoons, and the sea monsters have a couple of moments where they appear threatening, even if they aren’t. Luca’s weird uncle is a little creepy, but mostly in that he’s see-through (he does live in the deep sea, after all) and talks about eating whale carcasses, which was just gross (though I think meant to be funny). The messages about friendship and acceptance, while nothing new, were done well, and it was just a wonderful pick-me-up that’s perfect to watch this summer.

Luca is currently available for streaming on Disney +, but hopefully it will also be available elsewhere soon.

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