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Posted in: Dreamworks, Kaitlyn Booth, Movies, Universal | Tagged: dreamworks, Ruby Gillman, ruby gillman teenage kraken, universal
Ruby Gillman, Teenage Kraken Review: Some Splash, More Flounder
Even though Ruby Gillman, Teenage Kraken misses more than it hits, it still isn't bad. It's not as good as Dreamworks can be, and it's a massive step back from the last two movies (The Bad Guys, Puss in Boots: The Last Wish) they have released both in terms of story and animation.
Ruby Gillman, Teenage Kraken is Dreamworks on autopilot and features a script that feels like it was written by a boomer who has never met a Gen-Z kid in their entire life but has based everything they know about Gen-Z on what Fox News has told them about TikTok.
Directors: Kirk DeMicco and Faryn Pearl
Summary: A shy adolescent learns that she comes from a fabled royal family of legendary sea krakens and that her destiny lies in the depths of the waters, which is bigger than she could have ever imagined.
Ruby Gillman, Teenage Kraken: Another Mediocre Summer Film
The summer of 2023 is packed with massive blockbusters fighting to win the limited amount of money people are willing to spend on luxuries during a recession. When you have this many releases, there is very little room for error and even less room to be mediocre. We have seen it time and time again this year with movies that are just okay that would have cleaned up a few years ago but are stumbling hard in 2023. The problem is there is no reason for people to waste their money on mediocrity when something excellent is still in theaters or something wonderful is right around the corner. It kneecapped The Little Mermaid, Transformers: Rise of the Beasts, Elemental, and now there is a good chance that Ruby Gillman, Teenage Kraken is the latest victim of being mediocre to bad, and that isn't enough to get by right now.
The reality is that Ruby Gillman, Teenage Kraken is decidedly mediocre in all ways it counts. The story isn't anything original, and Turning Red is still on Disney+ for no extra cost. The script is where things get dicey as it tries to be hip to the kids but instead comes across like a boomer who has no idea what kids sound like. They reference a viral TikTok song from a while ago, and the problem is that it's difficult for references to be timely in movies. For shows like South Park, which turn around an entire episode in a week, they have the chance to be topical, but it takes too long to make a movie for references to really work. None of that should have been in there, and they should have leaned much harder into The Little Mermaid comparisons because that is much more timeless than the sea shanty song. It's a massive missed opportunity on the part of the filmmakers, particularly considering Disney just released the remake a month ago, come on, this timing was right here; how did you miss this opportunity come on.
Gen-Z Deserves Better Than Sea Shanty References
The script talks down to teenagers in a way that feels insulting. Gen-Z is the same generation that is marching for human rights and staging protests when their classmates aren't getting equal treatment and potentially changing the political landscape. However, according to this film, teenagers are still vapid, and prom is still the biggest thing in the entire world. The only moments in Ruby Gillman, Teenage Kraken that felt sincere were Ruby's moments with her immediate family and her friend Bliss (Ramona Young), who spends the entire movie catastrophizing — that's relatable.
The real crux of the matter is that even though Ruby Gillman, Teenage Kraken misses more than it hits, it still isn't bad. It's not as good as Dreamworks can be, and it's a massive step back from the last two movies (The Bad Guys, Puss in Boots: The Last Wish) they have released both in terms of story and animation. The real thing that will kick this movie while it is down is that there is no reason to see it because there is already a fantastic animated movie in theaters with Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse. Elemental got almost no traction because it was Pixar coming in and hitting mediocre, and now here is Dreamworks kicking in the door and declaring that not only are they going to be mediocre, they are going to be even more mediocre with a dash of cringe and talking down to your audience to boot. There's no time for that, not with July right around the corner and big releases like Barbie and Oppenheimer right around the corner. Most people don't go to the movies every week, it's too expensive, and if they have one ticket for July, they will probably save it for something other than this, even if they do have kids.
Ruby Gillman, Teenage Kraken is Dreamworks coming in and deciding that being mediocre was the tune of the day, which is a shame considering how good the last two films from the studio have been. This would have cleaned up at the box office, maybe pre-pandemic or even just at another time of year. However, there is too much competition right now, and everyone is way too broke to go out to see this one in theaters. Perhaps it will pull an Encanto and have a great presence on streaming, which seems much more likely, and if anyone at Dreamworks is smart, they will give this one a short theatrical window.
Ruby Gillman, Teenage Kraken
5.5/10
Ruby Gillman, Teenage Kraken is Dreamworks on autopilot and features a script that feels like it was written by a boomer who has never met a Gen-Z kid in their entire life but has based everything they know about Gen-Z on what Fox News has told them about TikTok.
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