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.
The history of Kraken and mermaids is not generally well-known to most. Happily, “Ruby Gilman, Teenage Kraken” plunges in to address essential aspects of the story. Add a dose of complicating teenage angst, and voila – an engaging narrative emerges.
As the movie opens, Lana Condor voices the title role of a teenager negotiating with a strict mother named Agatha (Toni Collette) about going to prom. Though Agatha is highly regarded as a landlubber superstar real estate agent, she has a mystery of her own.
When Ruby accidentally knocks her would-be boyfriend Connor (Jabouke Young-White) into a roiling ocean current, she dives in trying to save him. Under the water and overtaken by the tide, she loses consciousness. Then suddenly, gills engage on her neck, and she transforms into a sea creature called Kraken, marking the beginning of her process of self-awareness.
While undersea, Ruby meets her Grandmamah (with the accent on the last syllable), voiced by Jane Fonda, queen of the three remaining Kraken. Grandmamah reveals the story of how the mermaids used a weapon called the trident to attempt subjugation of the Kraken. However, Grandmamah’s daughter (and Ruby’s mother) led a glorious battle to seize the trident and lock it away so the mermaids could never use it again. With Ruby on information overload, she swims back to the surface and resumes her human persona.
In the meantime, a new girl at school named Chelsea (Annie Murphy) has stolen Ruby’s thunder by claiming to have saved Connor from the ferocious riptide to thunderous applause. Later, Chelsea tries to make it up to Ruby by befriending her, much to the chagrin of her best buds Margot (Lisa Koshy), Bliss (Ramona Young), and Trevin (Eduardo Franco).
If anyone steals the show, it’s Murphy voicing the mermaid Chelsea. She’s smart, funny, and totally with the current teenage zeitgeist. Chelsea and Ruby explore the sea together, revealing their respective underwater identities. Chelsea explains that if she can obtain the trident, she can bring peace between the Kraken and the mermaids once and for all.
All around the proceedings looms Gordon Lighthouse (Will Forte), the well-seasoned sailor who fears all things Kraken. Upon briefly sighting Ruby as Kraken, he acts as a version of Captain Ahab attempting to subdue the horrible sea monster.
The rest of the movie centers around Ruby’s journey of discovery that includes the epic battles between Kraken and mermaids, blended with the challenges of growing up in modern-day society. It is hardly epic in scale, but the movie nonetheless makes good use of its many special effects. Co-directed by Kirk DeMicco and Faryn Pearl, story by Pam Brady and a screenplay by a cornucopia of writers including Pam Brady, Kirk DeMicco, Elliott DiGuiseppi, and Brian C. Brown, the film holds its own against other DreamWorks animated productions.
While DreamWorks’ features tend to be on the rebellious or the somewhat irreverent side, “Ruby Gilman, Teenage Kraken” supplies a tamer yet nevertheless welcome addition to the library. A touching coming-of-age story suitable for children and adults of all ages.
In Theaters Friday, June 30th
