Fun little trivia: this year my cousins adopted a dog and named him Luca which seems very coincidental to Pixar’s newest film. In 2012 Enrico Casarosa directed the Pixar short La Luna, nine years later he’s made his feature length direction debut with Luca. Pixar’s Luca was not only my most anticipated movie of 2021 but also my most anticipated Pixar movie since Incredibles 2. This movie is about a sea monster named Luca who meets another sea monster named Alberto who’s been to the surface. They both start a friendship having adventures on the surface while trying not to be ousted as monsters in a town that hunts sea monsters.

This story could’ve so easily had another liar revealed moment but thankfully the conflict isn’t about the lie at all. We still however do have that whole man vs monster story that we’ve seen a lot especially in Disney. Fortunately for a movie about sea monsters this is one of Pixar’s most grounded films. There could’ve been a giant war between man and sea monsters but there isn’t and I’m glad that we went with a more laid-back tone. What helps is the that the movie takes place in summer. Summer is usually the season where most coming-of-age stories take place in and Luca really captured the that feeling perfectly. I can see myself watching this along with A Goofy Movie every summer now and having a great time.

The heart of the movie is the friendship between Luca and Alberto. My favorite character however has to be Giulia. She’s very likable and I like how there’s no love triangle and are just platonic. All there of these kids bring a lot of great interactions. Ercole is kind of a younger Gaston. While I am glad this isn’t a twist or force of nature villain, he’s still kind of annoying and unpleasant to watch. Speaking of characters, I know I praise Pixar’s animation in every review but this one was really special. I really like the characters designs in this film. All the characters have different shapes and have great facial expressions. It kind of reminds me of Aardman studios. I also like the idea that whenever a sea monster gets wet, they turn into there sea form. It makes for a lot of creative animation tricks. Though it would’ve been clever if at the end when the boys cry you see the sea monster skin a little. There’s also some really cute illustrations in the end credits.

Also John Ratzenberger is absent again! Why is he missing in every Pixar movie released exclusively on Disney+? That’s….not a good sign. Luca feels like a story that was very personal to the director. Luca may have been one of the smallest Pixar movies in terms of scale it’s one of the most enjoyable ones you can just sit down and relax while watching. It’s one of the best movies to come out on Disney+ and one of the movies to come out this year. You definitely don’t have to be stupido to enjoy Luca.

Verdict:

+ Laid back tone

+ Luca, Alberto, and Giulia 

+ Summer feeling

+ The animation

+/-Ercole 

-Man vs monster story

Score: A or A+

Disney’s 17^th animated movie 101 Dalmatians is one of Disney’s cutest animated movies from the canon. It’s also home to one of the most popular Disney villains Cruella de Vil who now has her own movie which funny enough coincides with the 60^th anniversary of the original film. Cruella is sort of a mix between the films Maleficent and Joker, but unlike Maleficent where Disney made her more heroic, Cruella here is more of an anti-hero. Emma Stone is very enjoyable as both Estrella and alter ego Cruella. I kind of like the whole alter ego thing with Cruella representing the side of Estrella that wanted. and her spial into turning into the Cruella we love to hate is great. Her lackeys Jasper and Horace are also very likable and unlike the previous adaptions they have a genuinely nice friendship with Estrella…at least until she starts acting like Cruella.

I want to bring up Joker again because the way this movie is shot reminds me a lot of Joker. The way this movie is shot fits the tone perfectly and gives the world life. The songs Disney used for the soundtrack fit the mood in each scene there in wonderfully and I actually recognized most of the songs such as Feeling Good, These Boots Are Made for Walkin’, and Car Wash. This movie however does suffer from the really long runtime especially during the revenge part of the movie. Cruella does a bunch of revenge schemes towards the baroness and honestly, I think they should’ve just done one revenge scheme and not drag the movie on.

I want to give props to Disney on giving a PG-13 rating to a prequel of a family friendly film. I’m not sure whether to put this in the Disney remake category but I will say that unlike the other remakes this felt like it had a vision and story is wanted to tell and didn’t feel like it was made to be a cash grab. Cruella is Maleficent done right and the closet we will ever get to a Disney movie was dark as Joker and a proper Disney villain movie.

Verdict:

+ Emma Stone as Cruella

+ Jasper and Horace

+ Soundtrack

+ Well shot

-Revenge part drags on

-Runtime

Score: B+