Ruby Gillman: Teenage Kraken

Voices of: Lana Condor, Toni Collette, Jane Fonda, Colman Domingo, Will Forte, Blue Chapman, Liza Koshy, Ramona Young, Jaboukie Young-White, Annie Murphy, Sam Richardson
Directed by: Kirk DeMicco, Faryn Pearl
Rating: PG
Genre: Animation, Adventure
2023

Times Seen:
Tim: 1

Summary: Adolescent Ruby Gillman's (Lana Condor) family forbids her from venturing into the ocean. When she accidentally falls in, secrets are revealed and she begins a journey that will change everything.

Review:

Tim: Honestly, what is it about animated movies telling stories about girls coming of age that lends itself to them transforming into some kind of beast/monster? I thought it was a stupid analogy in the awful Turning Red and we get basically the same story here. Is there no way to tell a story about a girl growing up that doesn't paint her as some kind of gigantic creature? What is going on here? Dreamworks delivered a box office bomb here- the film only grossed $15 million at the domestic box office. Even in this day and age, that's atrocious. What happened here?

Before going any further, I'll state here that I found this movie to be decent. That might be slightly inflated, but I actually liked it much more than Pixar's Turning Red. This film has a TON of problems and it's not a surprise that no one wanted to see it. But, to be fair, it's at least decent. As I said, the movie was already on shaky ground because we literally just got a similar movie last year, which (again) wasn't good. I have to admit, I wasn't all that enthused going into this film. Luckily, I focused on the opportunity to share an experience with my eight year-old son and five year-old daughter. But, the whole movie feels somewhat questionable. We follow this Kraken family who are living in secret among humans. Nevermind that they are blue and don't look human, this is all explained because they proclaim to be "from Canada". Ha-ha, not funny and it just gets the film off to a bad start. Who thought of this story, you might be asking. From there, it feels fine- we get this big adventure where Ruby (SPOILER, I guess?) turns into a giant Kraken when she hits the water and her grandmother is a queen and fought against a host of sea creatures. From there, the story moves along, but it telegraphs all the moves long before they actually happen. This is an example of why the script is so weak- there's a moment that could have felt like a massive twist, but because this is a children's movie, the script instead makes it abundantly clear what is about to happen, long before it does. So, the whole story feels predictable- we're just waiting for the "twist" to happen. And we wait a long time. Why would this be entertaining to anyone besides the youngest viewers?

I don't mean to sound too down on this film. Ruby Gillman goes through some character development throughout the film and I appreciated having a strongish female protagonist. I was glad I got to watch that story with my daughter. We do need movies like this. I appreciated how the main characters are Ruby, her mother, and her grandmother. The main antagonist is female, too. This is all good in terms of representation. I was glad my son got to see this story, too- movies don't just have to star boys. The animation is fine, it's rendered well and we get pulled into this world. The characters may not be the most memorable, but they are depicted well visually- each has its own distinct characteristics. The animation was definitely a plus for the film- the beautiful colors and the underwater environments were fun to watch. I did think the climax was quite exciting. It's a bit nonsensical at times, but it's a strong conclusion to an otherwise lackluster film.

One other aspect of this film I disliked was it takes barely veiled shots at Disney's The Little Mermaid. Mermaids are the villains of the film. The main antagonist looks awfully like Ariel. Then, if you had any doubt of this film knocking that character, there's a dumb little line about a "little mermaid." I actually thought this was unnecessarily antagonistic and mean-spirited. Maybe I'm getting old, but it felt completely uncalled for. Besides being in the sea, no one would be comparing this film to Disney's classic. I'm assuming this was done for parents- my kids didn't make the Ariel connection. However, think about this- if you're a parent who is trying to find entertainment for your kids, you don't give a crap about any Disney vs. Dreamworks fights. You want multiple great movies to watch with your kids. There's no competition from a parent's perspective. We should be able to enjoy The Little Mermaid and (theoretically) Ruby Gillman without having to pit them against each other. Then, to top it off, this movie goes after one of the all-time great animated movies, while delivering such a lackluster effort. If you want to go after the Queen, you better not miss. $15 million domestically and $45 million worldwide is a huge miss. Last thing- compare this to the funny, harmless gag in Shrek, another jab at Ariel. That was funny and fine. This movie seems to go out of its way to poke a much greater character and movie. Because of that, I was somewhat glad this movie did so poorly.

That being said, Ruby Gillman: Teenage Kraken is fine. My kids enjoyed it. I wasn't completely bored. It's decent, but eminently forgettable. A year from now, I'll struggle to recall anything substantial about this movie, besides maybe my rant in the last paragraph. Dreamworks has done so much better than this and I think they should get their own house in order before attacking others.

Rating 1-10
Tim's Rating: 6.5



If You Enjoyed This Movie, We Recommend: Turning Red