Luca
Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures | Release Date (Streaming): June 18, 2021 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
71
METASCORE
Generally favorable reviews based on 52 Critic Reviews
Positive:
37
Mixed:
15
Negative:
0
Watch Now
Stream On
Buy on
Stream On
Stream On
Stream On
Expand

Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
60
Christian Science MonitorStephen HumphriesJun 18, 2021
Luca stays close to the surface instead of diving deep into an exploration of how much freedom to give children. Arriving at a time when there’s a robust debate over how best to raise kids in the 21st century, it’s a missed opportunity. Luca is nonetheless a pleasurable movie experience. A summer vacation in one’s living room, it will leave you smiling from gill to gill. Read full review
60
Rolling StoneDavid FearJun 18, 2021
The mixture of the fantastic and the sublime that’s constitutes the Ghibli house tone is very much what Casarosa & co. aiming for, though the many, many bits of business onscreen suggests a homecooked meal of Disney/Pixar leftovers. Read full review
60
The Irish TimesDonald ClarkeJun 18, 2021
It’s well-meaning. It’s lively. It’s moderately funny. But it is no Finding Nemo. Read full review
60
ScreenCrushMatt SingerJun 18, 2021
Combine some of the Italian master’s whimsy with even more of Disney’s The Little Mermaid, along with plenty of Pixar’s now-standard bittersweet lessons about growing up and you get Luca, an affectionate portrait of friendship that never quite rises to the level of the beloved animation studio’s best efforts. Maybe it’s just a little too simple, both in construction and stakes. Read full review
60
CNNBrian LowryJun 17, 2021
Pixar movies have a habit for finding simple truths and tugging at the heartstrings, and Luca accomplishes some of that deftly enough before it's over. Read full review
60
New York Magazine (Vulture)Alison WillmoreJun 17, 2021
Luca is so intent on meaning something that it only ever halfway inhabits the delightfully colorful world it lays out. We never get a deeper understanding of the history between the sea monsters and the humans beyond some hints that there has been far more interaction than Luca was raised to believe. Read full review
60
EmpireNick de SemlyenJun 16, 2021
A strange hybrid of Italian neorealism and fish-based fantasy, Luca is beautiful to behold but plays it too safe to make a real impact. Still, great CG linguine. Read full review
60
VarietyOwen GleibermanJun 16, 2021
Luca, set in Italy in the ’50s, is modest to a fault, and at times it feels generic enough to be an animated feature from almost any studio. But it’s a visually beguiling small-town nostalgia trip, as well as a perfectly pleasant fish-out-of-water fable — literally, since it’s about a boy sea monster who longs to go ashore. Read full review
60
Total FilmJamie GrahamJun 16, 2021
Something of a companion piece to the superior Finding Nemo, this is one of Pixar’s weaker efforts but still worth catching. Read full review
60
Time OutPhil de SemlyenJun 16, 2021
The snoozy summery vibe will suit anyone looking for undemanding viewing for their little ones. With Pixar, though, you always come expecting more. Read full review
60
SlateDana StevensJun 16, 2021
Especially if you’re watching with children, you could spend a perfectly lovely afternoon diving into Luca’s refreshing blue-green waters. But unlike the two fish-kid buddies at the movie’s center, you may not emerge from the experience transformed. Read full review
60
The GuardianBenjamin LeeJun 16, 2021
It’s string-pulling Pixar formula but done with just about enough effectiveness to work (do their films ever truly fail?). It doesn’t have that emotional kicker of an ending we might expect and hope for, it’s far too slight to evoke an ugly cry, but it’s breezily watchable, low stakes stuff, handsomely animated (on dry land, in water less so) and, like Disney’s spring adventure Raya and the Last Dragon, refreshingly free of romantic diversion, prioritising friendship and self-discovery over getting the boy, girl or sea monster. Read full review
50
San Francisco ChronicleG. Allen JohnsonJun 17, 2021
There are some rumblings about the sea monsters wanting to express their true selves and being accepted by humans even though they are different, yadda yadda, but it’s not very well developed and Luca, like its charming village at low tide, is a shallow dip in the water. Read full review
50
Movie NationRoger MooreJun 16, 2021
Disney/Pixar’s animated “Luca” is “The Little Mermaid” without the heart, “Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs” without the laughs. It’s a gorgeous-looking time-killer aimed at a very young and undemanding audience. Read full review
40
Austin ChronicleKimberley JonesJun 17, 2021
It’s a lot, but also very little: The action amounts to multiple variations on “try not to get wet, or caught out” to push along a plot that dispenses the usual life lessons about being brave and valuing friendship. Read full review
More From This Movie

71 Critic Reviews

7.8 User Reviews

Details & Credits|Trailers

Current Movie Releases
By MetascoreBy User Score
1 81 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple
2 77 Project Hail Mary
3 75 Send Help
4 73 Hoppers
5 71 The Sheep Detectives
SEE ALL
Essential Links
New on Amazon Prime Video
New on Netflix
Coming Soon to DVD/Blu-ray
SEE ALL