Directed By Kirk DeMicco and Faryl Pearl

Starring – Jane Fonda, Lana Condor, Toni Collette

The Plot – Sixteen-year-old Ruby Gillman (Condor) learns that she is in the next legendary line of sea krakens. Despite her lofty destiny, she is desperate to fit in at Oceanside High. Ruby struggles even more to fit in when her mother forbids her from going to the beach. After disobeying her mother’s (Collette) rules, she discovers that she is descended from the warrior Kraken queens and will ascend to the throne as the Warrior Queen of the Seven Seas, her grandmother (Fonda). The krakens are a race sworn to protect the world oceans from the vain, power-hungry mermaids by battling with eons. Ruby would need to embrace Chelsea (Annie Murphy), a mermaid-turned-human who enrolls at Oceanside High School.

Rated PG for some action, rude humor and thematic elements

(1) RUBY GILLMAN, TEENAGE KRAKEN | New Trailer – YouTube

POSITIVES

For everything that “Ruby Gillman: Teenage Kraken” lacks in the originality of its outline, it more than makes up for in radiant execution, with impactful direction from the dazzling duo of DeMicco and Pearl, who inscribe an element of infectious personality to the proceedings. Whether in the exaggerated emphasis of the movie’s expressive animation stylings, with quick-cut editing and clever song choices to convey internal feelings within teenage mentality, or even just the consistency of the jokes effectively landing within this PG animated kids movie, one thing is for certain: It out-turns “Turning Red” in everything from scale to spectacle, while rounding out a script that never obscures profound intelligence in the depths of its metaphorical encompassing. Similar to that film, “Ruby Gillman” is also about a vulnerable time in adolescence, with DeMicco and Pearl utilizing as much of the awkwardness and anxieties of the age that not only transfers seamlessly towards empathizing with Rudy’s own crossroads of a situation, but also shows impressively progressive ideals towards the material, which etches out the strength and resiliency of female characters of power, without feeling preachy or heavy-handed by its intent. Also, despite the script following a telegraphed outline of directions that make so many of these kids movies interchangeable, there are a couple of solid twists towards the end of the second act that not only reshape the stakes and circumstances of the conflict, but also re-value the initial perception with certain characters and the dynamics between them that are challenged with such unforeseen peril. This is especially the case in the naturalism of the relationship between Mother and Daughter, with themes about legacy and shielding that pay off tremendously in the confines of Ruby’s own long-distance journey, but also in the surprise of a developing friendship for Ruby that dangerously defies everything her family has taught her, with unforeseen aspects that I truly didn’t see coming in the evolution of this story. Beyond this, as previously conveyed, the animation is spectacularly stunning, both in the imaginative glow of its color schemes, but also the attention to detail in geographic elements of its northwest setting, with Haar fog and unique architecture outlining an organic relevance that when combined with Stephanie Economou’s submersive score dominated by wind instruments, brandishes a specificity that looks and sounds unlike anything else that Dreamworks have conjured to this point. In addition, the expressive essence of the character’s complexity of emotions is firmly on display in the designs of the characters, with stretching facials and bold eyes combining to work cohesively within the confines of the energetic vocal ranges of this impressive ensemble. On that front, Condor and Collette conjure character and cadence to their respective turns, with the latter imbedding everything from fear to ferocity to her role as guardian, and the former commanding attention with the innocence turned independence of womanhood evolving with her newfound knowledge about her gifts beneath the sea. Rounded out by the stern stoicism of Jane Fonda as the queen of those waters, and you have a trio of lady leads that continuously rise to the occasion with meaningful merit that invigorates these characters with a sense of lived-in tangibilities, decorating the engagement with endless charisma and complex chemistry between each of their respective dynamics that seams to allude to the ages old fear that each of us do in fact become our parents, for better or worse.

NEGATIVES

While nothing terribly detrimental to a majority of my exhilaratingly fun experience with the film, there were a couple of problems that if better fleshed out could’ve provided what I confidently feel would be my single favorite animated experience of the year, even including “Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse”. The first and most evidential hinderance is easily in the confines of the dialogue, which casually broke my dedicated investment that was otherwise making this feel anything but your typical kids film. Why it doesn’t fully succeed with that triumph is because the dialogue often unnaturally conveys to us everything in heavy-handed exposition of interaction that we need to know about a character’s past or their capabilities, in turn leaving the air-tight 87 minute run time feeling a bit rushed, while telling us more than it should actually be showing us. Beyond this, my only other problem with the film pertained to the lack of logic in the confines of these kraken characters portraying humans, which is addressed with them being from Canada, for a funny one-off dig at our neighbors to the north. I can understand that this is a kids movie, so you’re probably not supposed to take it seriously, but I wish the kraken’s were able to change into human form when on land. Failing to do so leaves each of them looking unnaturally blue with slithery bodies, and I never bought for a second that the surrounding townsfolk bought any of them as the entities of humanity that they were attempting.

OVERALL
“Ruby Gillman: Teenage Kraken” splashes splendor as a literal fish out of water story with mesmerizing visuals, impactfully unexpected turns, and endless amounts of personality in a film that belongs alongside any of the best teenage comedies of the last decade. While some of the subplots are submerged by the undertow of a sweeping run time, the heart of its easily digestible message anchors inspiration in the expectations, keeping Dreamworks’ latest paddling with a sink or swim mentality.

My Grade: 8/10 or B+