Didn't laugh once
From the visionary mind of John Lasseter ('Toy Story', 'A Bug's Life', 'Cars') comes an animated project that is so unmagical that we wish we had been lucky enough to save 105 minutes of our time.
Apple TV+'s 'Luck' movie centres around 18-year-old orphan Sam (Eva Noblezada) who is cursed with bad luck; she's the unfortunate type of person that has her toast fall onto the floor jam-side down. However, after a chance encounter with a cat called Bob (Simon Pegg), she follows this magical feline companion to the mystical Land of Luck where they try to find a lucky penny - Sam needs one for her friend, while Bob needs one to stop him from getting into trouble with his boss, The Captain (Whoopi Goldberg).
What follows is supposed to be a magical journey through a far away land filled with unforgettable Leprechauns, unicorns, dragons and pigs (which used to be considered a lucky symbol), but in reality all we get is a joyless animation which feels formulaic, robotic and generally unfunny. No joke, there are no laughs.
We don't know how it happened, but when the audience enters the Land of Luck, this is when 'Luck' begins to take a dive into the predictable. As the story slogs on, and our main character's bad luck continues on and on, we're left with a story that continuously comes up with solution followed by solution which all fall by the wasteside as anything Sam does always goes awry. It was cute for the first 10 minutes of the film, but after an hour and 35 minutes, it's a pain in the Leprechaun's arse.
Speaking of which, don't even get us started on those twiddly-dee Irish accents that plague the first half of the film. Irish actor Colin O'Donoghue does feature as a main character, but his accent is Irished-up so much, it's a bit of an insult. Sure, Leprechauns are "Oirish", but please make it stop.
The voice acting in general isn't even that convincing, which is surprising when you've got the likes of Simon Pegg, Whoppi Goldberg and Jane Fonda of all people attached as main characters. Goldberg's character lacks any range and the 66-year-old honestly sounds bored while reading her lines; Fonda's CEO Dragon could have been played by anyone and it wouldn't have felt any different.
For all of the potential with basing a children's animated movie around the concept of "luck", the film is remarkably drab in terms of character and set design; just look at the design of the main character and tell me she looks any different from early 2000s animated humans we've seen in other far superior children's stories. The sad part is that the character probably went through multiple redesigns and this was deemed the best possible design.
The even sadder part is that we hate to leave a bad review of an animated project. We know of the countless hours the team has undoubtedly spent creating what they were told were rich and vibrant environments and characters, but unfortunately what we see here is just not up to scratch to any other releases we've seen of late. Coming from the creative team behind some of Disney's most well-regarded hits, it's disappointing that none of this carries the same level of warmth and awe we would expect.
There are a couple of positives to take out of the film; if you like musical numbers, there's a couple TikTok-like scenes in the mix, which might perk up some viewers attention because seeing bunnies dancing is always a sure way to fight away the boredom; and it's nice to see a female-led film featuring girlbosses left, right and centre. If only we actually enjoyed it all.
If you have an Apple TV+ subscription, and you're desperate for something to keep the kids busy for an hour and a half, then this 'Luck' movie might do. Just get ready to be on hand when they start asking questions about the confusing language used throughout and why Elisabeth and Donkey from 'Shrek' have been replaced by a dragon wearing a blazer and a German unicorn. Good luck with that.