Luca

It's full of energy and the diligence of those researchers has paid off in its settings which are seductive -- and even more important -- believable.

Luca is a sweet, gentle, sun-kissed film, with gentle rhythms and a generous spirit.

This movie takes joy in the everyday things...wonderful moments.

Luca, basically, is great news for film nerds and wonder-starved kids.

Less ambitious than most of the studio's films, "Luca" instead projects plenty of warmth, specifically in its study of identity, bigotry and the challenges young people face when navigating their anxiety-inducing entry into adulthood.

It is lesser Pixar, but lesser Pixar is still better than a lot of other animation.

Director Enrico Casarosa and his team do a magnificent job of bringing small-town Italy to life, interspersed with a coming-of-age fantasy saga.

The animation is painfully generic and even forgettable since its narrative is almost too insignificant.

In the end, LUCA is lovely, but slight, and has the potential for so much more. Visually it is gorgeous beyond belief, and... evokes the spiritual transcendence of Studio Ghibli. It doesn’t strive for much more than that, and sometimes that’s fine.

Although this is a Pixar film it is not a Pixar film.