Leo, the review: a fun reflection on the passing of time

The review of Leo, the fun animated film with the voice of an incredible Edoardo Leo, on Netflix from November 21st.

It’s a quality journey Netflix Animationstarted with Klaus in the autumn of 2019 and continued regularly with at least a couple of titles a year, passing through Over the Moon, Wendell & Wild, My father’s dragon and above all the Pinocchio by Del Toro. A regularity that remains so especially in this period of the year and which is also confirmed with the film which we tell you about in this one review by Leo: in the catalog from November 21st, in fact, the new title from Netflix’s animation sector confirms the good things that have been done and carried out in recent years, because it entertains and makes you think, as well as boasting theexcellent work by Edoardo Leo on the Italian voice of the protagonist, the tired, funny and in his own way wise lizard who gives the film its title.

The end is approaching in Leo’s storyline

But who is Leo? Simple, a lizard, who lives in a terrarium together with the Squirtle turtle in a fifth class of Fort Myers elementary school, a privileged position from which the two can follow the children’s lessons and activities. Year after year, in a routine that is always similar to itself to the point of making it difficult for them to realize the time passing. And in fact everything changes when Leo manages to do the calculations and understand that he is 74 years old and dangerously close to the end of his existence. Therefore the desire, the need, to have new experiences, visit the world, travel is born. And realize those dreams that have been locked in a drawer for too long.

He thus takes the opportunity to try to escape to freedom, to the Everglades that he dreams of visiting, every time he is taken home for the night by one of the students. But it’s not that simple, because Leo is ultimately good and attached to those children he sees every day at school, so he finds himself talking to them, understanding them, dispensing advice, from above (or should we say from low?) of a completely questionable wisdom, but dispensed with heart and good intentions.

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Between wisdom and imperfection

This is striking about Leo from the Netflix film: his imperfection and, at the same time, his honesty. This is what makes him understandable and close to his young audience, as his excellent voice actor Edoardo Leo also told us in our interview: his imperfection is real, it is authentic, it is in line with the innocence of the children to whom he is addresses in the first instance. But his wisdom is equally valuable, that depth of life lived that emerges from his age. Leo is a mature and tired lizard, but she maintains a certain curiosity towards life which allows her to get in tune with the children who welcome her at home and with the Netflix audience who will appreciate her watching the animation film directed by Robert Marianetti, Robert Smigel and David Wachtenheim.

But not only its protagonist and his voice actor work, but the entire film in its simple but never banal construction: Leo has rhythm, is entertaining and has ideas that leave their mark during the viewing, even for a more mature audience. The visual style is not the most elaborate on the market, but functional to the story, well optimized to support the entire development of the story and the different characters. What is especially striking is the animation of the protagonist and his adventure companions, which manages to communicate the emotions and thoughts of each of them. Leo first and foremost, who thus becomes a well-rounded characterwho we hope to meet again in the future in new possible chapters of his school adventures and beyond.

Growing, changing, living: time passes

A parte i hilarious skits between Leo and Squirtlemore mature spectators will also find satisfaction in the interesting reflection on the passing of time and how its flow is perceived differently by each of us depending on our age groups: if for Leo it is the approach of the end that represents a point of passage and turning point in his approach to life, for his young student friends it is the end of primary school that becomes a fundamental moment of transition. We grow, we change. Above all, needs, desires and needs change. This tells us Leo in its narrative simplicity, between musical songs, caustic jokes and more direct and slapstick humor. An excellent mix, balanced and sensible, which fits proudly into the wave of excellent animation that is overwhelming us at the end of 2023.