‘Luck’ Film Review: Animated Tale Delivers More Horseshoes Than Broken Mirrors

thewrap.com:

Jiji in ‘Kiki’s Delivery Service.” However, some of the supporting creatures seem far more generic; the porcine friends here almost look identical to those in the “Sing” franchise.Early on, while Sam and Bob are still on the human plane, there’s a chase scene a city just before sunset and just after rain.

The detailed texture of the background surfaces, how the light reflects on the puddles of water, and the way the dreamy light of the sun right before it extinguishes washes over the chase, which also include multiple clever sight gags, demonstrating the top-notch digital artistry enlisted to render this film above average.Although “Luck” can’t reach the sophistication level of the best Pixar features, it stands as a far more accomplished effort from a technical standpoint and in the resonance of its story than the dime-a-dozen, talking-animal cash cows infested with vapid pop-culture references that have become the new standard in Hollywood animated releases.On the other hand, “Luck” falls into the ranks of a recurrent trope in modern American animation: It appears as though creators can engage with the supernatural or the life processes beyond our control only if they are depicted as corporations that must run smoothly, with a hierarchy where there’s a boss and employees that carry out labor.

It’s a trope that has surfaced recently in “Inside Out,” “The Boss Baby” and “Soul,” where otherworldly ideas are business.Capitalism is embedded in how the storytellers think about these extraordinary worlds.

Even in these imagined kingdoms, whimsy cannot exist for the sake of whimsy alone, but it must be tied to the production and exploitation.