After several years of mediocre movies, DreamWorks Animation finally changed that streak last year with The Bad Guys and Puss In Boots The Last Wish; we called it their best movie in years. Both films featured unique and dynamic visuals that distinguished them, following the footsteps of Sony Pictures Animation’s trailblazing Spider-Man Into The Spider-Verse.

Does Ruby Gillman Teenage Kraken continue that trend? Of course not.

The Little Calamari That Could

From the get-go, Ruby Gillman Teenage Kraken looks like it’s marketed more toward kids and teens. Watching the movie just reaffirmed that for me. Does that mean the movie is bad? No, Ruby Gillman Teenage Kraken is not a bad movie by any standard, but it’s definitely on the lower tier of DreamWorks Animation’s list of works. It’s less Shrek and How To Train Your Dragon but more Trolls or Madagascar. After last year’s amazing offerings (The Bad Guys and Puss In Boots The Last Wish), it’s definitely disappointing to see that Ruby Gillman Teenage Kraken is DreamWorks Animation just going back to their old visual style instead of continuing the unique and dynamic visuals of their 2022 animated movies.

What is Ruby Gillman Teenage Kraken about? Well, it’s essentially a coming-of-age story where the titular protagonist, Ruby Gillman (Lana Condor), discovers that she can turn into a giant Kraken and that changes her life forever, disrupting her plans to attend prom and be just a normal teenager. It’s very similar to the premise of Pixar’s Turning Red, Luca and The Mitchells Vs The Machines from several years ago, with elements of The Princess Diaries and maybe even Shrek (not judging people by how they look, even if they look like a monster). It’s everything we’ve seen before, so Ruby Gillman Teenage Kraken will feel extremely predictable.

Ruby Gillman Teenage Kraken does have the potential to be a better movie. The movie also tries to subvert some tropes, like having the antagonist be someone younger viewers would usually never expect to be evil. The fact that this movie comes out just a month after Disney’s live-action The Little Mermaid is ironically funny, but the Ruby Gillman Teenage Kraken would have been a much better and interesting movie if they delved more into subverting and playing with those tropes instead of mostly playing it safe. In addition, Ruby Gillman Teenage Kraken also explores subject matter such as generational trauma and the protagonist experiencing panic attacks, but these are mostly played for laughs and are resolved too easily and cleanly, which lessens the impact.

That being said, like I previously mentioned, Ruby Gillman Teenage Kraken is ultimately more of a movie that younger viewers like kids or teens will enjoy the most, and there’s really nothing wrong with that. Ruby Gillman Teenage Kraken can be fun and sweet, and thankfully, it wasn’t boring at all even for an adult like me, despite being predictable and familiar. You could say the same thing about Turning Red and Luca, both of which aren’t exactly beloved either (they’re just fine but unremarkable), and I would say that Ruby Gillman Teenage Kraken is very, very similar.

Squid Worth

Ruby Gillman Teenage Kraken feels like DreamWorks Animation resting their laurels. Again, it’s disappointing to get just a mediocre animated movie from them, but it seems like 2023 isn’t the year for them (a third Trolls movie is their only other movie this year). Hopefully, DreamWorks Animation will continue to develop unique and dynamic visuals like The Bad Guys and Puss In Boots The Last Wish. Ruby Gillman Teenage Kraken is fine, but with Sony Pictures Animation’s Spider-Man Across The Spider-Verse raising the bar even higher recently, an “okay” movie just doesn’t cut it anymore, especially from a world-class studio like DreamWorks Animation.

FINAL SCORE: 50/100

We attended an early screener of Ruby Gillman Teenage Kraken courtesy of United International Pictures Malaysia. Ruby Gillman Teenage Kraken is slated to premiere in Malaysian cinemas on 29 June 2023.