Ruby Gillman, Teenage Kraken
UNIVERSALAfter the playful and ultra-imaginative Puss in Boots: The Last Wish, Dreamworks follows it up with Ruby Gillman, Teenage Kraken, which is the exact opposite of what the surprisingly vibrant Puss in Boots sequel was: devoid of maturity, charm, and originality that made the sequel one of the highest-grossing animated movies of 2022 and one of the most critically-acclaimed surprises of that year. Ruby Gillman is now the lowest-grossing Dreamworks movie in the studio’s history, and one can absolutely see why. For instance, the film was barely marketed outside of two poorly-constructed trailers. However, it’s also one of the laziest films the studio has ever made, plucking its story straight out of Pixar’s Turning Red and barely changing any of its beats and character arcs.
Ruby Gillman (Lana Condor) learns she can become a giant Kraken after saving her crush Connor (Jaboukie Young-White), from drowning. Her transformation into a Kraken is strongly connected to her emotions — when she’s calm and centered, she can regain her normal form. But when she’s erratic and unstable, that’s where the transformation begins, exactly like with Mei in Turning Red. There’s also Ruby’s relationship with her overprotective mother (Toni Collette), who tries to shield her from learning the truth about her origins and her family, with her grandmother (Jane Fonda) looking for an heir to the throne.
Even the final battle seems to be derived from Turning Red, albeit with Mermaids and Krakens, instead of a Kaiju-sized Mei wreaking havoc in a 4*Town concert. But it’s still the same story, repackaged in a largely unimpressive and glossy animated affair that strips away the humanity, soul, and artistry that made Turning Red so exciting. Of course, the animation does look great, and Ruby’s first transformation into the Kraken is one of the film’s strongest and most potent moments of visual storytelling. The camera moves in all directions, attempting to follow Ruby as she grapples with something she’s never experienced. Watching this, one could think that the movie will become more refined as she begins to hone in on her powers, but it becomes amazingly lame as Ruby now has to find the Trident of Oceanus, a pointless thingamajig, with her mermaid bestie Chelsea Van Der Zee (Sarah Murphy), who will absolutely not in any way be revealed to be the film’s main villain in the third act — no chance in hell. With Transformers: Rise of the Beasts and Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny, June has been the month of thingamajig pictures, with Ruby Gillman now a part of this elite club of movies.
Ruby believes that obtaining the thingamajig unites Krakens and Mermaids, who have been at war for some unknown reason. Of course, when learning this, the audience immediately maps out the entire movie in their head, and every non-plot twist can be seen coming a mile away. Ruby Gillman has no surprises, especially for audiences who have seen Turning Red. Maybe the ones who haven’t will enjoy it, but those who did will find it dull and completely devoid of excitement that made Turning Red so fresh and original.
While the animation is fine, there are a few visually striking moments, such as when Ruby meets her grandmother for the first time or reaches the thingamajig, but the film still looks largely unmemorable. It never creates frames or sequences that will stick with audiences long after it’s over. Its goal seems to only distract moviegoers instead of enthralling them with its moving story. It’s disappointing, because director Kirk DeMicco’s last animated effort, Vivo, was anything but that. It had catchy songs, vibrant animation, memorable characters, and a timely story.
Ruby Gillman, Teenage Kraken slaps horrendous pop songs on the film’s mildly beautiful frames, which hinders its emotional investment, has no moving sequences and clichéd characters that placate one of the most forgettable studio animated movies in recent memory. It’s one thing to brag about your movie being an “original animated film,” it’s another for the “original animated film” to have the exact plot of Pixar’s Turning Red, with slight differences but with no unique qualities that truly make it its own. The voice cast does a fine job with the material they have. Still, their characters are all forgettable and clichéd, with the exception of Will Forte’s Captain Gordon Lighthouse, a hybrid of The Flying Dutchman, and Mr. Krabs from SpongeBob SquarePants.
There isn’t a single moment where Ruby Gillman, Teenage Kraken sticks out amongst the pack of recent animated movies or gives a reason for the audience to invest themselves in the story. If audiences don’t have a legitimate reason, how can that translate to box office success? The future of animated movies isn’t grim, per se. Still, it’s certainly not what anyone should expect from Dreamworks, who has made some of this century's most memorable and original animated movies.