Rating PG
Length 1h31
Release 30.06.2023
Director Kirk DeMicco
About Sweet and awkward 16-year-old Ruby Gillman is desperate to fit in at school, but she mostly just feels invisible. She’s prevented from hanging out with the cool kids at the beach because her over-protective mom forbids her from getting in the water. When she breaks her mom’s rule, Ruby discovers that she is a descendant of the warrior Kraken queens and is destined to inherit the throne from her grandmother. The Kraken are sworn to protect the world’s oceans against vain, power-hungry mermaids.
Moon: full moon seen at multiple times
Where to Watch: Now TV
Trailer:
The Good
Following in the footsteps of Disney’s Seeing Red, this film looks at the turbulent time of going from childhood to adulthood.
The characters are pretty cool, and I love the subversion of expectations: making the Kraken good and the mermaids evil.
It’s good to have Jane Fonda and Annie Murphy within the voice cast. There’s something distinctive and soothing about Fonda’s voice and Murphy’s work as Alexis in Schitt’s Creek makes her perfect for the popular student, Chelsea.
The Bad
For a Dreamworks production, there’s something missing. The quality of both the animation and story just don’t reach the quality of any of the other franchises from this company.
The Ugly
The biggest problem is that the opening is told by an omniscient narrator who also happens to be the protagonist, Ruby, and doesn’t know she’s a kraken until half way through the film.
It just puts the audience at odds with the narrative. We already know she’s a kraken because of the title, then the opening tells us too… but then the film plays dumb. It sucks.
Final Thoughts
I don’t regret watching, but I really did find it lacking.
The Queens of Geekdom 