Kirk de Mikko, the author of “Vivo” and “The Croods Family”, in collaboration with Faryn Pearl directed another animated film from Dreamworks studio, which was published by Universals, and what can be said about this?
The subject of puberty in cinema is not new. More and more we see ‘zoommer problems’ on the screen, and before that there was ‘millennial kitsch’. Each generation has its own experiences, and that is the norm. Not bypassed and “Ruby Gilman”: an actual movie on the theme of growing up and self-acceptance. I can’t say I was thrilled with the script: it’s default. It does not turn the tongue to note that the cartoon is boring. Not at all. The plot is holistic and has its mythical lore, the dialogues are easy and easy to understand for children and adolescents, the characters are worked out, and I did not notice that there are profilers. At the time of writing this review, I was trying to put the plot component and the name Gilman in my mind. Like Jews, like persecution from the sea and confrontation with mermaids. Perhaps, behind all this children’s facade, the topic of the Holocaust rises, then the picture becomes far from superficial. Why not?
I try to get acquainted with all the relevant works of animation studios, so I could not pass this work. Throughout the viewing, I somehow caught the flow of Disney’s “I blush” and “Encanto”, although this cartoon has nothing to do with the previously released “mouse studio”. It's not a musical, of course. Light work for viewing with children and the other half.
The shape is great. I like both animation and editing in general. The picture looks great, and it can not but please. Acting work due to viewing with voiceover translation to fully evaluate could not, but it seems and about.
Ruby Gillman, Teenage Kraken is a good and standard movie studio, which is not boring to watch, but it will not become a cult movie. We all understand that there was a lot of cool content before it, so now the competition is frantic. Yes, cutting off all the representativeness that Disney has, it at least does not strain the average viewer with its current “apologies”, but I do not care. Normal pastime for an hour and a half. Enjoy your visit.
Naive, children's cartoon about the family. It doesn’t have any deep meaning – it’s just a beautiful picture. He continues to blossom with these non-standard teenagers, their problems and the difficult relationship between the child and his parents. There are so many good pictures about a variety of characters, with their drama and disclosure, conflict resolution and the teaching of younger and older viewers, but here we decided to do with easy solutions.
I saw a very simple formula: a teenage girl with an object of love that conflicts with her parents. For the dynamics, the world was saved, and the character learned everything very quickly, but the feeling that he did not learn anything from the lessons presented by life. The resolution of the conflict happened, everyone is happy and happy, take the heroine for granted. Again, small viewers will not take anything out of the cartoon, but they will see another quarrel with their parents and how everything ends well, as always.
The authors had the opportunity to reveal at least the relationship with friends, the heroine literally left her friends, having exchanged for another person who allegedly understands her. Just zero emotions from friends, peacefully forgotten. It seems that such a drama is not foreseen by the writers, although friendship, relationships and blind trust could somehow be played out.
I would not recommend wasting my time on this movie. Look at some good pictures like Puzzle, Up, Toy Story. You can even think of the Japanese industry. But spending conscious time on a teenage Kraken makes no sense.
Surprisingly, when this cartoon just appeared the first promotional materials and trailer, it enjoyed quite extensive popularity. This was especially true of the mermaid heroine, who became the subject of various Pinterest arts and memes from the category “This is what mermaids should be, Disney!” Back then, it seemed like the cartoon would be a good hit, especially given the recent successes in the face of the Cat in Boots 2 and Bad Boys from Dreamworks. However, the project did not shoot, having collected the worst box office figures in the history of the studio and after less than a month (at the time of writing the review), there is almost no talk about it on the network. This happened for two reasons. The first is a very weak advertising campaign. In addition to the above-mentioned trailer and maybe a couple of posters there was nothing else, many learned about the existence of Ruby Gilman just days before the premiere. It’s like Dreamworks didn’t believe in the project. Well, the reason #2... yes, the cartoon itself was not very ... straight ... very not very.
To begin with, it literally doesn’t stand out. Most of what you're going to see here has already been in a hundred other animated films before, and not just animated ones. Of course, Ruby is a typical teenage nerd, who is friends with other teenage nerds, whose family constantly embarrasses her, and peers still consider her a freak (but this is only from her words, so everyone treats her normally). Of the recent similar formula used by Mitchell vs. Machines and I blush, where there was also a strange heroine with a developed imagination, but even against their background, this cartoon is too secondary and is replete with cliches and annoying clichés like “cool object of desire of the character preferably on a skateboard” and “to fool caring parents”. Even the jokes came out banal and in addition to the final “I’m not bad, I’m just ... er... misunderstood” to highlight here the corporate irony of Dreamworks will not work.
And then there's the catastrophic pace problem. They say that a good movie, even with a duration of 3 hours, will feel 1.5. This one lasts 1.5 hours, but it feels like it's forty minutes, and that's no compliment. Perhaps hyperactive children will be able to somehow keep track of everything, but adults simply will not have time for the flow of the local story. The cartoon should not be so fast, especially considering the fact that there are 15 characters here and none of them except the title character has time to prove themselves. It is necessary at least sometimes to stop, to show not only adults, but also children that it is better not to rush the moment. And here everyone is in a hurry, running there here, as if the animators were afraid of losing children who might get bored while watching. It’s like Boss Milksucker, where also in the name of preserving their audience, the creators went overboard with this.
It is because of the pace that other components of the cartoon suffer. Local lore at first attracts and looks even creative. All this underwater battle of the Krakens with other underwater creatures looks witty. But everything related to this was too crumpled, without having time to announce all the rules of this world. The animation suffers as well. The backs are well drawn, but the designs of the characters are too simplistic, and their movements are the same. Almost all heroes move the same way without any individuality. The motives of the main villain were also godlessly simplified for the sake of timekeeping and so that children did not think too much. And why would you turn a mermaid into a twisted villain, even though the small advertising campaign said that she would be an antagonist? This is a very strange marketing decision, confusing an already small audience.
Ruby Gilman is not the worst children's cartoon. If you have nothing to show the child, then in principle the option is not the worst. But it is unlikely that he will sit in anyone's head. He is banal, overly energetic and catastrophically unmemorable. Unfortunately, there's no way. You expect a lot more from Dreamworks.
Representation matters. It is very important and necessary, although this phenomenon causes anxiety in blinded people, facing mass denial and rejection. But such a response is an inevitable obstacle to global change. Tolerance is a great goal, a very positive value. I personally belong to oppressed groups of people, victims of injustice. Heroes like Ruby Gillman have also suffered injustice. Until now, characters like Ruby have not been hailed as the main characters in major films. They were not presented as fully disclosed images. They got the roles of nondescript secondary characters, most often antagonists. Or just grey episode mice. "Scary" girlfriends of the main characters. In general, you understand that such persons have not received comprehensive disclosure. Just because until quite recently, film studios promoted a different ideal of the protagonist. Attempts to go against the imposed stereotypes were made before, but their scale was small.
And so Dreamworks studio, which arose as a protest of the Disney studio and the ideology it implants, releases a cartoon about “good” kraken and “bad” mermaid. It's weird, because it's usually the opposite. But fortunately, in our time and such stories have the opportunity to be world famous.
What struck me in the heart was the appearance of the main character. She looks like a normal person, not a supermodel of the 90s. I have to admit, I have forgotten that this happens in movies. That's how I'm used to complex, looking at women who are absolutely unlike me, who are praised by cinema. Ruby Gillman is a typical omega; but in the whole story, she plays a key role, not a secondary one. And that's unusual. And the main villain here is a typical "beauty" named Chelsea. And she looks like a winner at everything. She instantly wins the hearts of the crowd, she likes, she is loved, she is bright and charming. Even when the cartoon was not released, social networks were flooded with Oedits dedicated to Chelsea. Not Ruby, Chelsea. The narcissism of this girl did not repel, but attracted Shirnarmass. Apparently, this type (for centuries imposed by Hollywood) has not yet gone out of fashion. People are used to the fact that only such beauty can be considered beauty: long lush hair, white skin, a confident look and arrogant, arrogant behavior.
But people love mermaids.
- Of course they do, people are stupid.
There are things in the movie that I didn’t like. The fact is that I am not part of the target audience of this movie. I would be more interested if it were about adults. At least 20-year-olds. Not relevant to me this topic with proms, algebra, etc. But the idea of confronting dominant power and representing oneself is incredibly close to me. Ruby Gillman is fighting for what she cares about. She fights against her sworn enemy, who has vilely betrayed her earlier. She's not giving up. It goes against a creature that has won the sympathy of society. That is, it fights in an unequal struggle against the stronger (at first glance).
6 out of 10
I saw a few references/quotes from the animated film The Super Family. I like movies being inspired by other movies.
Our days. Ruby Gilman lives the ordinary life of a teenage graduate, whose death, as you want to get to the ball. However, soon after an accidental attempt to save a man, she finds herself in the water and summons her inner Kraken. Later, she learns the unexpected news that she is not Canadian. She decides to understand who she is from birth and what powers she has. In an attempt to delve deep into her realtor mother’s past, she meets distant relatives.
All the rest: first, the creators of the film are well advanced in humor. This can not but please, as they say "Herring down my throat!" - branded expletive GG. Secondly, this is a wonderful cartoon with good graphics, do not even cry because the graphics under water are cloudy. It's the bottom of the ocean, guys, it should be. The characters are interesting, the facts about the Krakens and the background of the interspecies vendetta are revealed. But, there are also significant disadvantages of this animated canvas. For example, the action of the entire cartoon rushes as quickly as possible. It is not for you to watch Shrek and silently admire epic moments. These epic moments are enough here, which is only friends, emo, goth and it seems that the soloist of the band Gorillaz hid behind his hair (joking). Heroes are really cute. This can not but rejoice, because even the antagonist is made perfectly, without the banal: 'I will kill you all. Ha-ha-ha! In the end, though, she does claim that she's been waiting for this for so long. Well, that's understandable. 15 years after all.
As far as the story is concerned, I think DreamWorks animation and Disney have always competed. Since my memorable childhood. I remember how Mrs. DreamWorks had “Madagascar”, and Disney joked and decided to release their own, too, quite fitting and even visually voluminous 3D feast in the form of “The Big Journey”. Since then, there has been a similar feud between the studios. And now I watch how the poor and miserable studio that gave us Shrek, Escape from the Chicken Coop, The Road to El Dorado copy (and do not blush!) the cartoon I blush. Perhaps this is an independent idea that has been on the shelf in the studio for a very long time. Unfortunately, I'm blushing ahead of you. And also, there's a trend in today's kids, a teenage explosive character that's not just contained because they (our parents) had their own generation. We young people have ours. It is also a kind of arms race and a confrontation between generations. You're right about something and we're right about something. And sometimes it's important to listen. Also, the film traces a way to open up to the world not to be locked in four walls. I swear, Aquaman's story breathes nervously.
Speaking of which. The modern Mermaid (not the one from the pen of Rob Marshall) was also mocked, ridiculing her kindness, self-sacrifice. All for a great purpose. I'm sure the real Ariel is terrified. Chelsea (Annie Murphy) is like the Ariel I saw in the Ralph sequel. Fashionable female shell in the trend is just a screen.
Cons of the tape Kirk de Micco and Farina Pearl staged according to the script Pam Brady, Brian S. Brown and Elliotta DiJuseppi suffers from modern newfangled advancing fashion. Okay, white people used to be friends with black people. But now the authors of the script have entered the territory of the strange world in the “Strange World”. I'm not talking about black love. But there's something slightly wrong. It’s up to you to feel for one child, but not for 15 years to give free rein to another. We can say that Grandmama (performed by the incomparable Jane Fonda) forgot a nail on a loved one. Now, "you" will say abusive. No, it's just different generations. It happens that they differ in their temper (remember the villain mother in I blush). So, this modern fashion for "world peace" has quite a few disadvantages. And I don’t like that the second favorite studio promotes such feminist guano.
And yet the cartoon is good. There is a separate song for each hero. The modern song is not deprived of Captain Gordon (a stereotype for the captain from Moby Dick and a kind of pirate with a crab instead of a parrot on his shoulder). And reinforcing these adventures of a young diver helps Stefani Econom. Her compositions are interesting to listen to and watch how the unbridled power of the teenage Kraken grows.
In general, it so happened that you do not need to rush to conclusions when you look at this canvas. He's much kinder than you're going to say "Elementary," but a little worse than "I'm blushing." Of course, the cartoon has a connection to Luke (which made a big impression with minimal epicity). Apparently, that’s why people who have already “probably” seen everything did not give their love to the new film DreamWorks.
The start of the tape was much worse than the recent “Elementary”. The $75 million cartoon took five million dollars so far. I don’t want to throw salt on the wound, but it’s one of the worst 3400 screen premieres ever. If you remember last year's Strange World (of course I know why) failed with 12 million. You can forget about a good word of mouth and not the best advertising campaign, because it will not pull the cartoon from the bottom. The global box office of the cartoon is already 190 million
Impressions: the cartoon is charming, full of adventures. That's the only thing you need to know.