Ruby Gillman, Teenage Kraken Blu-ray Review
“Ruby Gillman, Teenage Kraken” is a messy animated feature.
Directed by Kirk DeMicco and Faryn Pearl, “Ruby Gillman, Teenage Kraken” is the latest Dreamworks animated film. The story concerns the titular character who is a high school teenage Kraken in the town of Oceanside that passes herself off as a human from Canada despite being blue. Ruby desperately wants to attend Junior Prom, but her parents forbid her from going into or on the ocean out of safety. When her crush Connor ends up in the ocean by accident, Ruby jumps in to save him and that’s when she begins to transform into a giant Kraken. It seems Ruby’s mother has been hiding a lot of secrets about who she is and she wants answers. She meets other family members in the Ocean, she learns that she is a Princess, and she learns that the Kraken have been warring against the evil Mermaids. Elsewhere in the story are subplots involving Ruby’s 3 friends, Ruby and Connor’s possible relationship, a new high school girl (Chelsea) who befriends Ruby but is not what she seems, and a kooky old sailor (Captain Lighthouse) who wants to hunt Kraken.
As the title suggests, “Ruby Gillman, Teenage Kraken” is more aimed at teenagers instead of children. Granted, there’s plenty here for children and adults alike to absorb, but the core story is a coming-of-age tale about puberty, family, identity, friendship, and destiny. The script by Pam Brady, Elliott DiGuiseppi and Brian C. Brown has its heart in the right place, but it tries to accomplish too much and short changes a lot of its own ideas.
Making a story about a mythical creature set in the mysterious Ocean world sounds promising on paper, but for some reasons, the writers set the story largely in the human world. Making the Kraken mingle with the humans and pass themselves off as humans doesn’t make a lick of sense and reeks of trying to ground the story for mainstream audiences. If anything, this feels insulting to the audience and comes off as a needless ploy to market to a teen audience (also, see the pop songs). In fact, a lot of the big ideas seem to go to waste here. Very little is done with the giant Kraken concept, the end battle feels like an after thought, and even the different take on the Mermaids is underutilized. Moreover, why does the design of the Kraken resemble the Dreamworks Trolls and why on Earth do they shoot lasers of their eyes? It’s all very puzzling stuff.
Story wise, the all too familiar central teen coming-of-age story becomes muddled by too many subplots involving Ruby’s family undersea family members, the Mermaid plot, the sailor, and so forth. Sure, it all comes together in the end, but it feels needlessly complicated. The focus becomes lost in the grand scheme of the story. Had the story been more focused on Ruby’s dual lives, it would have been more compelling.
The voice cast is on point here. The most notable performances here are Lana Condor (Ruby), Toni Collette (Ruby’s mom Agatha), and Annie Murphy as “Chelsea.”
Video/Audio:
Presentation: 2.39:1 1080p. How does it look? The vividly colorful and superbly animated film gets a perfect hi-def transfer.
Audio Track: 7.1 Dolby TrueHD. How does it sound? From the underwater bubbles to the giant Kraken voice, the 7.1 track is nothing if not layered.
Extras:
* DVD copy
* Digital copy
* 3 deleted scenes with intros by co-director Faryn Pearl.
* “Squad Solidarity: Adventures In ADR”- A look at the voice cast in action.
* “The Kraken: Myth Or Monster”- Lana Condor narrates this bonus feature about the Kraken legend.
* “Meet The Gillman Cast” centers around the voice cast.
* “The Kraken Krew: Meet The Humans Behind The Gillmans”- Another extra about the cast.
* “Prom Stories”- Cast members talk about their prom (or lack of prom experiences).
* 2 creative activities with an “Oceanside Drawing Guide” and “Make Your Own Aquarium.”
* “Super Sea Girl Besties” is about the themes and characters.
* Commentary by directors Kirk DeMicco and Faryn Pearl, producer Kelly Cooney Cilella, head of character animation Carlos Fernandez Puertolas, and head of cinematography and layout Jon Gutman.
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