Movie Review: RUBY GILLMAN, TEENAGE KRAKEN

By ABBIE BERNSTEIN / Staff Writer

Posted: June 30th, 2023 / 01:46 AM

RUBY GILLMAN, TEENAGE KRAKEN movie poster | @2023 DreamWorks Animation/Universal Pictures

Rating: PG
Stars (voices): Lana Condor, Toni Collette, Jane Fonda, Colman Domingo, Blue Chapman, Will Forte, Annie Murphy, Liza Koshy, Ramona Young, Eduardo Franco, Jaboukie Young-White, Sam Richardson
Writers: Pam Brady and Elliott DiGiuseppi & Kirk DeMicco
Director: Kirk DeMicco; co-director, Faryl Pearl
Distributor: Universal Pictures
Release Date: June 30, 2023

Most of us have already seen some (or many) versions of the story told in RUBY GILLMAN, TEENAGE KRAKEN. We can, however, safely guess that this is the first with (per the title) a teen Kraken as the main character.

A Kraken, for those unfamiliar with the mythology surrounding the creatures, is a giant tentacled sea monster. Here, the Kraken are tentacled only some of the time, only some of them are giant (and again, only some of the time), and none of them are monsters. Which is not to say there are no monsters in RUBY GILLMAN, TEENAGE KRAKEN.

Sixteen-year-old Ruby (voiced by Lana Condor) lives in the aptly-named Oceanside City with her parents, realtor mom Agatha (voiced by Toni Collette) and shop owner dad Arthur (voiced by Coleman Domingo), and little brother Sam (Blue Chapman).

Ruby and Sam know they’re Kraken who are just pretending to be human. They have blue skin and small fins on their necks. However, so far, the locals have accepted the Gillmans’ explanation that they’re just funny-looking foreigners (hey, it worked for the Coneheads).

But for the most part, Ruby has normal teen issues. She’s a mathlete, which allows her to tutor her crush Connor (voiced by Jaboukie Young-White) in algebra. Ruby is afraid Connor will fall for popular new girl in school Chelsea (Annie Murphy). Ruby also wants to ask Connor to their high school prom, but she’s struggling with her shyness.

And then there’s the matter of attending the prom at all – it’s going to take place on a boat cruising Oceanside Harbor. Agatha has decreed that nobody in the family can ever go in the ocean.

However, Agatha has never explained the real reason for this. When the inevitable happens and Ruby falls into the ocean, something big happens. Ruby naturally has lots of questions, which lead her to her forceful Grandmamah (voiced with imperious affection by Jane Fonda).

There’s the normal teen superhero trajectory of learning about powers, being afraid someone will find out about the powers, learning to use the powers, making a big mistake, and then needing to use the powers to save … well, we can take our pick here.

What makes RUBY GILLMAN, TEEN KRAKEN fun is not because we can’t guess where it’s going, but because it’s both colorful and warm. Despite clashes, there’s a lot of parent/child love and genuine social friendship woven throughout the plot.

The filmmakers – director Kirk DeMicco, co-director Faryl Pearl, DeMicco’s fellow screenwriters Pam Brady and Elliott DiGiuseppi, and their army of animators – strike a pleasing balance between whimsy and recognizability. The Krakens are appealing, even if it’s hard to believe that Arthur, for one, is passing for human. We can see how the big iterations of them have given rise to terrifying legends, at the same time they retain their general adorableness. Oceanside is charmingly Seussian, with oddly-shaped tall buildings and curving roads.

There’s also a solid sense of pacing, with jokes and emotions not belabored for too long, scary stuff that’s properly dramatic but that shouldn’t traumatize little ones, and reasonable motivations.

There are a few caveats. He doesn’t need to take center stage, but we ought to at least know how Arthur felt about his wife’s insistence that they move to dry land (and the family issues that came with the move). There’s being mellow and supportive, and then there’s just being underwritten.

We also get some weird messaging in terms of the villain. The final product suggests that perhaps was a slightly different version of the story that didn’t have this problem.

Mostly, though, RUBY GILLMAN, TEENAGE KRAKEN should be fun for kids and easy viewing for their accompanying grown-ups.

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