Luck

Find a penny, pick it up and all day long you’ll have good luck. That is at least the dream for Sam Greenfield (Eva Noblezada), the unluckiest person in the world. Nothing can ever go right for her as she goes about her daily routine, but the discovery of a single penny is about to change all of that. Through a wild turn of events, Sam suddenly finds herself in the never-before-seen Land of Luck and must unite with the magical creatures, including Bob the Scottish Black Cat (Simon Pegg), to turn her luck around and find her way home.

Luck is a colourful adventure through a magical universe created from a collection of luck-based stereotypes and puns mashed together. There is a mountain of exploring to be done during the first two acts of the film, and the viewer relies heavily on Noblezada and Pegg to carry the plot and world-building. Both bring their characters to life with steely grit and commitment, and although there is never really a devastating sense of peril, the viewer can get right behind the duo from the start.

Pegg also delivers a very convincing Scottish accent. Why is he Scottish you ask? Well, in Scotland, a black cat on your doorstep is considered a sign of prosperity, although there may be a deeper layer to Bob than we initially understand. There are also appearances for the legendary Jane Fonda as Babe the Dragon and Whoopi Goldberg as Land of Luck’s head of security, to sweeten the palate. Surprisingly, there isn’t necessarily a typical villain in the story, with the element of bad luck presented as the real foe.

Luck is Skydance Productions’ first step into the field of animated film, branching off from Mission Impossible and Jack Reacher, and visually the movie is excellent, with an infinite burst of colour like the exploding of a rainbow. There is also a fun musical number, albeit not particularly necessary to the story. Skydance have, however, harnessed quite a predictable and familiar formula for their first cartoon expedition. Playing it safe is probably a wise choice to build a strong foundation and will result in the movie standing the test of time, but the lack of courage might suggest we are in for a lot more of the same with any future projects. The modern themes that run throughout add a sprinkling of uniqueness, but Luck may simply fall onto the pile with many, many animated adventure films that have come before.

Guy Lambert

Luck is released on Apple TV+ on 5^th August 2022.

Watch the trailer for Luck here: