It is hard to be disappointed in a movie like Ruby Gillman, Teenage Kraken. In a year that, with some notable exceptions aside, has been relatively light on solid animated fare, there is something nice about just getting to take in a largely sweet story like this one. In many ways, considering the release from Pixar this year was quite formulaic, it feels like it could have emerged as one of 2023’s stronger studio animations on par with something like the terrific Turning Red. Alas, while not always defined by formula, it still ends up feeling frequently derivative and slight without putting in the time to dive deeper into its premise. The characters are consistently charming, the humor sufficiently silly, and the animation often beautiful, though the standard path it takes holds it back from fully exploring the potential lurking just beneath the surface. When it all bursts free towards the end is when the film is at its best.
COLLIDER VIDEO OF THE DAYSCROLL TO CONTINUE WITH CONTENT

The latest animation from DreamWorks, the studio behind the outstanding How to Train Your Dragon films and last year’s surprise hit that was Puss in Boots: The Last Wish, it follows the awkward yet ambitious Ruby Gillman (Lana Condor) as she tries to survive the normal challenges facing teenagers. Namely, she wants to ask her crush, Jaboukie Young-White’s dreamy yet underdeveloped skater Connor, to prom. Though she is not nearly as suave as him, the fact that he also harbors feelings for her seems promising. The only problem? Ruby is not like other kids her age. Namely, she is a Kraken in disguise. Her parents, Toni Collette’s Agatha and Colman Domingo’s Arthur, are loving though often overbearing as they tell her she can’t go to the prom as it is taking place on the water which she is forbidden to go in. The cover story they provide to any who suspect they aren’t who they say they are, such as Will Forte’s Captain Ahab-esque Gordon Lighthouse, is that they are actually from Canada. These excuses, punctuated by the occasional eh, hold just enough water to keep the family living a secretive life in their sleepy town by the sea. However, when Ruby must dive into said waters to save Connor after a well-intentioned promposal goes awry, her cover may soon be blown as she becomes a towering version of herself who gets swept up in a generational conflict.

RELATED: It’s All Fun in the Sun in New ‘Ruby Gillman, Teenage Kraken’ Trailer

‘Ruby Gillman, Teenage Kraken’ Mostly Plays It Safe
Image via DreamWorks

Though this stops far short of everything the film’s trailer reveals, providing any more details would take away from what is already a rather familiar experience. We do get to know others from Ruby’s extended family, such as Sam Richardson’s Uncle Brill and Jane Fonda’s Grandmamah who are each similarly fun though fleeting characters, but there is a general sense that the film is treading water. Is this about Ruby navigating the pitfalls of young love while also figuring out who she is? Not really as Connor almost completely vanishes from the film until he is brought back in near the end. Okay, well then how about that component about Ruby figuring out who she is? This is the foundation of both the film’s humor and heart, making some moments towards the conclusion carry weight as the teen takes charge, though it is still watered down. It doesn’t get washed away entirely, but it still requires weathering some stormy narrative developments that don’t land as well as they should have. The initial interactions Ruby has with a popular new classmate and mermaid Chelsea Van Der Zee, voiced by Annie Murphy of the recent series Kevin Can F**k Himself, is similarly half-baked and makes the twist that can be seen coming from across the vast ocean more of a shrug.

However, the real tension Ruby must navigate is that which she has with her mother. It is the actual emotional core of the film with each trying to understand where each of them are coming from. Where much of the rest of the film is too broadly sketched to draw us in, this manages to pull us far deeper when it needed to. Collette is no stranger to playing characters grappling with fraught family dynamics as this has been the focus of her last three projects in Mafia Mamma, The Power, and The Estate respectively. Ruby Gillman, Teenage Kraken falls somewhere in the middle of those with the broad strokes occasionally giving way to something more precise. Her character is saddled with a profession that toes dangerously close to an odd trend in animated stories where they inexplicably reduce the magical into the mundane in search of diminishing comedic returns. Thankfully, when the film takes us to the depths of the sea and actually explores more of where the characters are coming from, it finds something engaging as many of its pieces come together. The journey is surprisingly constrained, with little actual exploration of the underwater world and a tacked-on magical McGuffin feeling like it was added just to give it something to aim at. Still, once it arrives at its dynamic destination, it starts to actually feel quite a bit more pointed and fun.

‘Ruby Gillman, Teenage Kraken’ Lightly Pokes Fun at Disney’s ‘The Little Mermaid’
Image via DreamWorks

In regards to said destination, there is a hint of what could have been a more interesting undercurrent in how it twists something that is rather familiar. Without going into too many details, the film’s finale plays out almost like a funhouse mirror version of the ending of the original The Little Mermaid. It unfortunately isn’t quite as dark as that, as this is one of many modern animated films that feels like it is holding back, but it does have a lot of fun with what it is doing. Even as the reveal that sets it in motion left much to be desired in how it was executed, the way the ending is essentially an extended spectacle of a gag is good fun. It isn’t sharp enough to constitute a more robust satire of Disney’s mermaid story, but it is just cheeky enough to make for a playful skewering that still could have cut quite a bit deeper.

Rating: B-

Ruby Gillman, Teenage Kraken is in theaters starting June 30.