Luck (2022)

Luck (2022)

5/10

 

Starring the voices of

Eva Noblezada

Simon Pegg

Jane Fonda

Whoopi Goldberg

 

Directed by Peggy Holmes

The movie, for me, ended up being twice as good as the waste of space that was DC League of Super Pets, even though I feel the animation lacked some much-needed excitement. The animation will appeal to children slightly older than the Paw Patrol gang who might enjoy DC League of Super Pets, but it doesn’t quite reach the level of those who crave Disney’s Encanto. The movie’s fantasy-based story brings us into a world where good luck and bad luck are created and randomly dispersed all over the world.

The animation graphics weren’t exactly stellar—in fact, I believe they could have done much better. Considering the production cost of $140 million, it’s disappointing to see a dance sequence that looks like something straight out of those B-movie animated Barbie shows.

The story was also tamed down to a level where it’s easy to lose interest. While it does surpass some of the trash we’re often thrown, for such a high budget, I expected more. What works for this movie is the voice acting and the way it creatively demonstrates how good luck can make someone jump off a cliff knowing they’ll land safely—while bad luck tries the same and ends up breaking its neck.

The story introduces us to a home for girls, where we see Sam and Hazel making a dance video. Sam, who is now 18 years old, has to leave the home as she’s considered an adult. A social worker provides her with an apartment and a job, but Sam is sad to leave Hazel, who is only about 8 years old. Sam doesn’t want Hazel to feel alone.

One day, after another rough day at work filled with bad luck and close calls, Sam is sitting on the sidewalk when she spots a hungry cat. She shares her food with the cat, who then runs off. Where the cat had been sitting, Sam finds a penny. She picks it up, and suddenly, her luck changes. That night and the following day, everything goes smoothly—she’s even amazing at work with no mishaps.

Sam, wanting to share the good luck with Hazel so she can be adopted by a great family, decides to give the penny to her. However, Sam’s bad luck strikes again, and she accidentally flushes the coin down the toilet. While beating herself up over it on her way home, she spots the cat again. As she talks to herself about the incident, the cat gasps in outrage—it speaks! Realizing its mistake, the cat bolts, and Sam chases it, eventually ending up in the world where good luck and bad luck are made.

The two strike a deal: Bob (the cat) will help Sam find another coin for Hazel, and Sam will leave his world and never return.

In the end, I enjoyed the movie to some extent but felt that if I had something else to do, I probably wouldn’t have watched it on Apple TV+.