Animated films seem to be the only bulletproof box office commodities out there. The family is still America’s loyalist audience, pushing children’s films through the roof as all other genres hit-or-miss equally. Luke and Lucy: The Texas Rangers, however, falls into a growing category of like projects that should be missed.
The film opens in the Old West, where armor-clad evil cowboy Parasite is kidnapping townsfolk and shrinking them with a green smoke he’s developed. After a gunfight, the Texas Rangers are shrunk, leaving the town unprotected. The film then confusedly cuts to modern day Boston, where Luke and Lucy live with their family. Soon the stories intertwine, and the message seems to be that the South is still stuck in the 19th century with rampant clichés, and some racial stereotypes that put Mexicans on the losing side, and needs to be policed by an educated Northeastern family who swoop down to save the day.
Luke and Lucy is lackluster. Billy Ray Cyrus lends his voice, which pales in comparison to Robin Williams and the countless other celebrities who have defined the incredible works of Disney, Pixar, and even Dreamworks. At times, one even wonders if kids should watch the film, which lacks any real substance or lesson. What defined the best animated films was their ability to tell an emotional story for all ages that tapped into the universal themes of life. Luke and Lucy instead abounds with gunfights, a racy scene of a singer who’s leggier and more voluptuous than most Hollywood actresses and will later come back in a suggestive shower scene, and lastly, a rampant overuse of the word, “Damn/Goddamn it/Damn it.”
Whoever was behind Luke and Lucy has a lot to learn about what makes a children’s film a timeless film for everyone.
"Luke and Lucy: The Texas Rangers" is on sale February 22, 2011 and is rated PG. Animation. Directed by Mark Mertens, Wim Bien. Written by Guy Mortier, Dirk Nielandt, and Eric Wirix. Starring Billy Ray Cyrus.
