Awesome / Luca

• Alberto's "human stuff" collection is pretty impressive on its own. What's more impressive is how he obtains said items, which in part is thieving it off of fishermen's boats who come out onto the water near his island at night. Given how sea monsters are feared and Portorosso is a town infamous for hunting them, Alberto has guts to do this on a frequent enough basis to grow his collection over multiple years the way he has.
  • His methods are pretty inventive too. During the night, Alberto primarily uses stealth to make off with smaller items, while also spooking the fisherman into knocking other things he's interested in overboard that he goes to collect the following morning.
• Luca and Alberto giving their custom-made Vespas a test drive. Although it's not as well-manufactured as a real Vespa, it's still impressive what these boys can accomplish in a day.
• While fishing with Massimo to earn their entry fee for the Portorosso Cup, Luca and Alberto use their know-how of fish to coordinate where to catch more. For example, unbeknownst to Massimo, he was fishing over a barren fish graveyard, but Alberto figured out there were more fish in another area.
• Luca pointing a harpoon at Ercole and his cronies to let Alberto go after Ercole corners them alone on the street and punches Alberto while Ciccio and Guido hold him down.
  • What makes it cooler, it wasn't even a defiant act. Luca was legitimately scared of this land monster, but he still took the spear and used it against Ercole because they were hurting Alberto. That took courage.
• When Ercole takes our heroes' entry fee for the Portorosso Cup on the principle of "paying the outsider fee", Giulia stands to him demanding he return it. When the bully writes off her usual insults of "Evil Emperor of Injustice" as tired and cliche, it's Luca who gives the perfect insult for Ercole, a catfish-a bottom feeder with "two sad little whiskers". Not only does it hit Ercole where it hurts most, but calls him out on being afraid of competition, enough to return the kids' hard-earned money.
  • The tone of Luca's voice as he clarifies catfish being bottom feeders shows a bit of fear and lack of confidence on his part which makes the burn sting Ercole's ego even more powerful than if the insult was said by someone with more confidence.
• Despite being an intense moment that marks Alberto's falling out with Luca and Giulia, there's something strangely cinematic about Alberto revealing his true form before Giulia. It's epically chilling to see Alberto so dramatically go from boy to sea creature as his tail unfolds and he rises from the water in a crouched silhouetted form. It's a dramatic scene, but it's done with style.
• Luca out-biking Ercole (a man well past 16 years) in the final leg of the Portorosso Cup! Luca's but a 13-year-old sea monster who's spent the better part of his life swimming, yet he out paces Encole like a professional. Did we mention he's going uphill? Ercole can accuse him of cheating all he wants, but Luca rightfully earned such skills himself with all the work and practice he put into his training.
  • Luca's handling of the swimming part of the triathlon is also quite clever, using Alberto's diving suit. And when it leaks underwater and transforms him, it also serves as a convenient cover for his sea monster identity until he dries off again.
  • There's also the unspoken fact that had Luca been allowed in his sea monster form it would likely have given him an unfair advantage over the other competitors during the swimming portion. So by wearing the heavy, forced-to-walk-in diving suit, it actually gave him a handicap that despite slowing him down at first, he'd catch up later in the race due to his actual bike training, making his unintended victory all the more deserving.
• When Alberto is exposed as a sea monster during the Portorosso Cup, he urges Luca to remain under the refuge of the awning, so the rain doesn't expose him too. Instead, he runs towards Ercole at the risk of promptly being netted. The crowning moment is when he gives his battle cry "ANDIAMO!"
• The visual of Luca coming to Alberto's rescue, his transformation in the rain but a graceful slow motion that boasts Pixar's talent at animation.
  • Building on that, Luca's transformation back into a sea monster in the rain seems to signify his metaphorical transformation, from a scared little boy into a brave, loyal friend. Bonus points to the way it plays off and the symbolism behind it— that Luca is finally truly willing to be himself, after pretending for so long.
  • Especially given that his earlier betrayal of Alberto was him refusing to reveal his true form: in a way, revealing his nature as a sea monster while rescuing Alberto from Ercole was a perfectly cinematic way to atone for this earlier misdeed.
  • Alberto helping Luca dodge the harpoon Ercole throws at them during the last stretch of the race. In fact, pretty much all the maneuvers Luca is able to pull off riding a bike on his own during this chase, with a handful of others with Alberto's assistance.
• Giulia ramming her bike into Ercole to save Luca and Alberto from him, at the possible but thankfully averted cost of severely injuring herself (keep in mind, Ercole was carrying a harpoon, which could have stabbed and killed her).
  Giulia: So long, evil empire of injustice!
  • The very scope of why she bumped her bike into Ercole's. If it were any other scenario, it would come across as extremist of Giulia to pull that off on the principle that she didn't want Ercole to win anymore. But instead of trying to take down what she hates, Giulia's act is meaningful because she's doing it to protect what she loves: her two new-found friends. If anything, she could've crashed into Ercole if she wanted to, but has always chose to play fairly. In every sense, Giulia is the bigger man, more than Ercole could ever be. Also crosses over into heartwarming.
• When Ercole threatens Luca and Alberto (who have been exposed as sea monsters in the rain), the two boys stand up to him, with Luca declaring he doesn't scare them anymore. And when Ercole silences them by pointing out how all of Portorosso hates and is disgusted by the two boys for being monsters, Giulia stands up for her friends and says "They are NOT monsters!"
• Ciccio and Guido finally standing up to Ercole in the climax and giving him a taste of his own medicine: throwing him in the fountain, along with his sweater, which he insists on not getting wet because it’s wool. The fact that they don't call him out for his mistreatment of them just goes to show that actions do speak louder than words.
  • There's also the principle that Ercole's "Evil Empire of Injustice" has come to an end. Ciccio and Guido's unwavering obedience towards him represented the sway he held over the town. Now that they no longer listen to him, it means the town is now completely free from his influence.
• Massimo standing up for Luca and Alberto. When the other fishermen are ready to attack them, all it takes is one glare from Massimo to get them to back off.
• Giulia, Luca, and Alberto grabbing Ercole's harpoon and breaking it in half. You've gotta admit that is badass for a trio of kids!
• After the Aragosta sisters reveal their sea monster forms, three women from earlier take the paper with the reward for capturing sea monsters from Officer Maggiore (the policewoman) and rip it in half, showing they're not interested in seeing sea monsters killed anymore.
  • Heartwarming too if you interpret the old ladies as having been friends with the Aragosta sisters. Even when they reveal their true identity, their friends still want to protect them regardless of what they are.

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