Ruby Gillman: Teenage Kracken - Blu-ray Review

[Michael Scott]

Ruby Gillman: Teenage Kracken



Movie:
Video:
Audio:
Extras:
Final Score:



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Movie
I’ve always considered Dreamworks Pictures as one of the biggest competitors to Disney and Pixar animations, pumping out great animated films for years that were never AS popular as the Mouse House and the Toy Story progenitors, but very good films nevertheless. However, over the last few years the studio has failed to live up to the greatness of the old Shrek, How to Train Your Dragon and Madagascar franchises. Spirit Untamed failed miserably at the box office, and Boss Baby 2 didn’t fare much better, with only Puss in Boots: The Last Wish rising up to the legacy of old. But upon watching the trailer for Ruby Gillman: Teenage Kracken I was struck with the sinking realization that this film would not reach the epochs of old, and actually look really REALLY weak from said trailer.

I’m not gonna lie, I have to eat a little crow here. Ruby Gillman is no How to Train Your Dragon, but it is not a bad movie at all. In fact, it’s a rather harmlessly fun coming of age story that would have been perfectly fine had it come out in the 1990s when Dreamworks was putting out films like The Prince of Egypt or Chicken Run. It’s a very cute film with a lot of heart, and just enough adventure to be fun, while playing on classic “teenager coming into adulthood” tropes that are a genre staple.

Ruby Gilman (Lana Condor) and her parents Agatha (Toni Collette) and Arthur (Colman Domingo) are creatures from the sea who have moved to a port town and disguised themselves as humans to fit in. Agatha has told Ruby that it was because there were monsters in the sea that hunted them, and that Ruby was to NEVER go into the ocean as she would be in danger. While Ruby has a love of the sea in her heart, she obeys her mother and tries to just simply fit in as a teenager in high school. Something which alone is a petrifying task. It’s time for her high school prom and over protective Agatha once more shackles the poor teenager by refusing to allow her daughter.

By happenstance as Ruby is attempting to defy her mother and ask out her crush Connor (Jaboukie Young-White), the boy falls into the ocean leaving the young girl no choice but to dive in and attempt to rescue him. Shockingly (at least to Ruby) she turns into a gigantic Kracken, revealing to her the lie that her parents had withheld from her. They were not running from monsters, they WERE the monsters. Now Ruby has to come to grips with her new found identity, and decide whether she wants to obey her parents and live life as a “human”, or follow her heart and go to the bottom of the sea to find out what truly awaits her.

As I said above, Ruby Gillman: Teenage Kracken is a perfectly harmless bit of entertainment. While it’s not going to blow your socks off with an in depth and emotionally riveting story, it doeos offer a very fun and lighthearted adventure while Ruby finds out about the world. There’s a few twists and turns, but most of the “twists” are pretty obvious to guess without any problem. Her new “friend” Chelsea is pretty obviously going to be the main villain of the series (the first trailer pretty much spoiled that before the movie came out) and her big secret was not really a secret at all. The script feeds us the typical naive young girl has to come to grips with reality troubles, as well as the overly enthusiastic “Let’s do this! Together!” type ending that finishes up with a group hug and a kiss. Again, not exactly ground breaking, but I certainly had a good enough time with this one time watch.




Rating:

Rated PG for some action, rude humor and thematic elements




Video:

My only real complaint about the release is not seeing A 4k UHD for this one. It’s gorgeously animated and a 4K disc would have been fantastic, but the 1080p Blu-ray is no slouch either. The film is filled with neon tinged blues, pinks, purples, reds and so much more. Combined with deeply saturated colors and deep inky blacks it’s a veritable cornucopia of dazzling colors. Fine details are excellent, with us seeing every freckle and line on a face, or sales and fleshy tentacles when in Kracken form. I did notice some banding in the under water sequences though (no surprise, water is probably the most straining element for the Blu-ray format), but overall this is a stellar looking disc that maintains a very high bitrate.









Audio:

Not gonna lie here. I actually was surprised at finding 7.1 Dolby TrueHD track vs. an Atmos or DTS mix. 7.1 Dolby TrueHD has become more and more rare with most studios opting for a 5.1 mix, or a full on Atmos (or DTS:X) mix. But either way, the end result is a stellar audio track that just has a few quirks to it. Right off the bat you’re going to have to boost up the gain knob on your receiver, as the track is distinctly recorded 6-8 DB lower than most tracks. But upon boosting the volume levels it fills out to a very robust and spicy track. The roars and crash of the ocean reverberate throughout the sound stage, and the dialog posted up front like expected. The rears get quite a bit of action precision surround effects, and the low end is very punchy when Ruby goes into full battle mode. Simply put, this is a fun and engaging mix that takes full advantage of the 7.1 surround field.












Extras:

• Feature Commentary with Director Kirk DeMicco, Co-Director Faryn Pearl, Producer Kelly Cooney Cilella, Head of Character Animation Carlos Fernandez Puertolas and Head of Cinematography, Layout Jon Gutman
• Deleted Scenes with Intros by Co-Director Faryn Pearl
• Squad Solidarity: Adventures in ADR
• The Kraken: Myth or Monster
• Meet the Gillman Cast
• The Kraken Krew: Meet the Humans Behind the Gillmans
• Prom Stories
• Super Sea Girl Besties
• Oceanside Drawing Guide
• Make Your Own Aquarium

Final Score:
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There’s plenty to like about this flick. There’s action, adventure, beautiful animation, and it’s what I would call a solid kids babysitter along the same quality vein as the Hotel Transylvania series. The Blu-ray looks and sounds fantastic, and there is a reasonable amount of extras on the disc as well. Certainly worth checking out, as the movie was distinctly better than the trailers made it out to be. Cute Watch is going to be my personal recommendation.


Technical Specifications:

Starring: Jane Fonda, Lana Condor, Toni Collette, Colman Domingo, Will Forte, Blue Chapmon, Annie Murphy
Directed by: Kirk DeMicco, Faryn Pearl
Written by: Pam Brady, Brian C. Brown, Elliott DiGueiseppi
Aspect Ratio: 2.39:1 AVC
Audio: English: Dolby Digital 7.1, Spanish DD+ 7.1, French (Canadian) DD 5.1
Subtitles: English SDH, French, Spanish
Studio: Universal/Dreamworks
Rated: PG
Runtime: 91 minutes
Blu-Ray Release Date: September 26th, 2023

Recommendation: Cute Watch