Skydance Animation produced its first film under new animation chief John Lasseter, who left Pixar amidst sexual misconduct allegations. The director is choreographer-turned-filmmaker Peggy Holmes and not Lasseter. However, it is clear that he was involved heavily in this project because even though they do not say so directly — “From the creative visionary behind Toy Story” is plastered all over its advertisements. It also shares some similarities with his former employer such as visual style (cutesy stylized animation interacting in near-photorealistic environments) and talent behind the scenes (Lasseter has brought over many of his old colleagues). But they have also managed to capture a bit of that classic Pixar magic: like Monsters, Inc. or Inside Out this story takes place somewhere just outside our own reality where some elemental force is governed — a device used by these movies to teach children about life. Unfortunately luck never quite reaches those heights but does give them their best shot.
The film starts off sappy enough: Sam’s an orphan voiced by Eva Noblezada living at what seems like one foster home after another without finding her “forever family”. She’s also apparently the most unlucky person ever born; which means she’s incredibly clumsy and absolutely everything goes wrong for her all time long always forever amen. As soon as she turns 18 years old starts living on own and wishes good fortune upon fellow orphan Hazel (voiced by Adelynn Spoon) — who happens to be a tiny roommate/surrogate sister figure. It’s a nice setup if little syrupy your tolerance for cheese may vary.
Then comes a cat named Bob who looks a lot like Jiji from Kiki’s Delivery Service and talks kind of Mike Myers’ Shrek through Simon Pegg does voice acting honors. To be fair it’s one better accent, especially considering some near-hate crimes committed against Emerald Isle once we get whisked away Land Of Luck though parts do seem to resemble the American Irish bar St. Patrick’s Day without any alcohol.
However still lively — even if a little confusing. We’re never more than five minutes away from exposition here and there at this place; and Sam/Bob has barely set foot through the city limits sign before the audience tells them: find the “travel penny” then locate the “good luck crystal” use its power ‘bunny drone’ which they’ll need control via joystick that also happens double as rabbit quadcopter remote.
But assuming you can keep up with all that there are some very well-staged visual gags to enjoy along way including but not limited too: a hilarious showdown between our hero’s auto-flushing toilet who behaves like ’s HAL inspired dance number featuring group bunnies’ only most stony-hearted viewer could deny themselves smile. Some falls might be a bit samey — bad-luck clumsiness tends to wear thin after the third or fourth time it’s used in rapid succession — but the film is consistently energetic and bright throughout
The film’s overall message is a little muddled: it advocates for accepting life’s randomness (‘bad luck can be good sometimes!’), but doesn’t much care to think about how much we choose or are personally responsible for. However, if you’re okay with shaky morals, sometimes awkward writing, and incredibly offensive Irish accents, this is an alright thing to plonk your child in front of for a couple of hours.
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