Audiences might bemoan the lack of original thinking at the movies these days — all those sequels, remakes, and reboots! — but even new ideas can feel suddenly played out when faced with the horrifying specter of parallel thinking. Consider everything from “Deep Impact” and “Armageddon” to “Dante’s Peak” and “Volcano,” “Capote” and “Infamous” to “No Strings Attached” and “Friends with Benefits,” and those are just contemporary examples of the phenomenon. If you’ve got an idea for a movie — hopefully, a good one to boot — chances are, someone else has it, too. And they may even have it at the exact same time.
Such is the case with Kirk DeMicco and Faryn Pearl’s “Ruby Gillman, Teenage Kraken,” which arrives on the heels (fins? paws?) of some very similar other animated adventures, like Pixar’s superior “Turning Red” and the studio’s less thrilling entry “Luca,” both of which use monstrous imagery to explore puberty and coming-of-age. No, literally monstrous: In “Turning Red,” a young girl’s maturation turns her into a giant panda (adorable, terrifying), while “Luca” follows a pair of young boys who discover they’re both sea monsters (in sun-drenched Italy, no less).
For the DreamWorks-backed entry into the “whoa, puberty is nuts!” animated movie Mad Libs arena, those ideas get mashed up into something funny, sweet, and all-too-familiar. This time around, we’re following a delightful young girl (voiced by the winning Lana Condor) who can’t shake the feeling she’s different, only to discover on the eve of a key teenage experience that she very, very much is (she, too, is a sea monster). And while this concept, from writers DeMicco, Pam Brady, Elliott DiGuiseppi, and Brian C. Brown, might have felt fresh five years ago, in 2023, it’s just another example of parallel thinking damning even the cutest of ideas.
And “Ruby Gillman, Teenage Kraken” is cute.
DeMicco and Pearl open with some splashy exposition, telling us that kraken, despite their bad reputations and terrifying name, are actually protectors of the ocean. Being a kraken? It’s a good thing! But that hasn’t stopped even the most lauded of kraken — like Ruby’s mom Agatha (voiced by Toni Collette, in just one of many excellent pieces of voice casting) — from sweeping her family onto dry shores (like their small town of Oceanside) and keeping everyone very much out of the ocean and away from their legacy as massive, butt-kicking sea monsters.
Ruby (voiced by Condor) has always known she’s different — perhaps her blue skin and gilled ears are a tip-off — but even she doesn’t know just how different she is. That’s a tough load for any teenager to carry, but one that’s particularly hard for Ruby, who already feels torn between her love of order (she’s into math and rules) and her spunky and fun personality. While “Turning Red” was explicitly coded to be about puberty and periods and “Luca” has been viewed as a story about sexual and gender identity, “Ruby Gillman” flits between all these possible readings. In short, it’s about discovering who you are (be it physically, sexually, mentally, emotionally) and harnessing the bravery to embrace it. A classic tale in sea monster form.
One thing Ruby has always understood: She can’t go in the ocean, ever. (Then why did they move to Oceanside, you may wonder? As Agatha tells us in one of the film’s most clever and amusing moments, they do still need to remain moist, obviously.) Ruby is just fine with that request until Oceanside High goes ahead and schedules their annual prom on a party boat, and all of Ruby’s best pals (rendered mostly in tropes: the wacky one, the gothic one, the dude one) can’t wait to literally splash out on the luxe vessel. But what about Ruby?
Before you can say “promposal,” Ruby has tumbled into the ocean in an attempt to save her sweet crush Connor (voiced by Jaboukie Young-White) after he goes into the drink. It’s there that she discovers — care of some colorful animation, amusing character design, and a healthy dose of pop music — that she’s actually a massive kraken, and everything Agatha has told her is, well, kind of a massive lie.
Much like “Turning Red,” the real heart of “Ruby Gillman” lies in the complicated bond between mother and daughter, one built on both very good intentions and totally traumatic deceptions. And when Ruby’s transformational news travels to both her Grandmamah (voiced by Jane Fonda) and the rest of the ocean’s many other inhabitants, that bond is going to be mightily tested. Who else in the ocean, you may ask? Her funny uncle Brill (voiced by Sam Richardson), who arrives at the Gillman home, along with hip new girl at school Chelsea Van Der Zee (voiced by Annie Murphy), who soon reveals herself to be an Ariel-styled mermaid who is thrilled to have a new water-logged pal (maybe).
Partially spurred on by Chelsea and her instant popularity but mostly driven by her own desire to break free, Ruby starts spending more time in the ocean (read: more time as a kraken), where Grandmamah teaches her a ton about their heritage and lineage. Kraken? Sure, there’s plenty of them, but Grandmamah and Agatha and Ruby are the only giant kraken, fierce fighters and beloved royalty who are tasked with protecting the ocean from all the bad stuff, including (dramatic pause) mermaids, who are the real monsters. Oh, so what about Chelsea?
Exposition and information dumps abound, but despite the seemingly overstuffed nature of the plot, “Ruby Gillman” skews a bit younger than similar cinematic options. It really soars (swims?) when it’s leaning into the lighter, literally more colorful stuff, like when Ruby goes full kraken and explores a lush, bright ocean alongside her grandmother or new best frenemy. The pop songs blare, the montages zip by, and the water setting is turned into something bright and fresh (sorry, new “Little Mermaid”), all setting the perfect stage for a warm and good-hearted story about self-acceptance.
This may all seem familiar, and that’s both comforting and disappointing. Kids are always in need of gracious tales about the power of being yourself in a world not necessarily built to embrace differences (of all sizes, of all kinds) and stories like “Ruby Gillman, Teenage Kraken” can do that, with fun to spare. But why not get more splashy, why not take more risks, why not get bigger and weirder, when that’s also the aim of the very story you’re telling? Audiences of all ages deserve those leaps, the more giant, the better.
Grade: C+
Universal Pictures will release “Ruby Gillman, Teenage Kraken” in theaters on Friday, June 30.
