Cert – PG, Run-time – 1 hour 31 minutes, Directors – Kirk DeMicco, Faryn Pearl
Teenage kraken Ruby Gillman (Lana Condor) learns that she’s descended from underwater royalty, risking her stable life on land to stop the war between mermaids and kraken.
There’s a bubbling energy as Ruby Gillman (Lana Condor) delivers a colourful presentation on why she should be allowed to go to prom. Despite having missed out on all major school events, all her friends going, the safety of the boat and the attractive captain her mother, Agatha (Toni Collette), still says no. The Gillman family are krakens living amongst humanity – when asked about their blue skin they simply explain they’re from Canada – and every family rule prevents them from going back into the ocean. Ruby discovers what her mother has been hiding from her for 15 years after diving in to save her crush Connor (Jaboukie Young-White) after a prom proposal gone wrong – she’s not just a teenage kraken, she’s a giant teenage kraken.
Towering above the rest of the underwater ocean life Ruby begins to discover, thanks to her queen of the krakens grandmother (Jane Fonda), the powers she has. Powers which she’s set on using to help end the war between humans and mermaids – after making friends with new-at-school mermaid Chelsea (Annie Murphy). Much of this is kept secret from the protagonist’s mother, who warns her daughter about her ‘grandmamah’ (as the character insists on being referred to, and is credited, as) without ever really explaining why. In fact the relationship between the two older generations is lightly dealt with and doesn’t feel entirely developed, only really mentioned for the narrative sake when required. Therefore when Ruby converses with her grandmother it feels slightly odd to see them talk with little hesitation or reference to Agatha.
The nature of the narrative is very much a case of ‘in and out’. The story is told quickly and concisely, coming in at 91 minutes, including credits, and generally seems to fit that space rather well. Any more and it may feel somewhat overlong. Partly this is down to the stripped back nature of things, and a slight sense of familiarity. The energy which Ruby is first introduced with, bringing about thoughts of The Mitchells Vs. The Machines’ Katie Mitchell, doesn’t quite linger, and while she herself remains a likable character she somewhat shifts with the film as the nature becomes much more direct.
A couple of laughs crop up here and there and as a whole there’s a decent piece of, albeit likely forgettable, work here. The story is told quickly, with a selection of cartoonish, comic-strip style characters to provide their own pieces of amusement along the way. There may not be anything entirely new here, but for what there is Ruby Gillman manages to keep her head above water making for a likable piece of work which may not quite sail as far as it may hope but certainly floats with enough stability to make for likable viewing.
There’s not entirely anything new within Ruby Gillman, Teenage Kraken, however a likable main character helps to guide us through the concise narrative elements for the short duration of the film.
Just A Little Bit Random 