Ruby Gillman, Teenage Kraken

The impression of watching this movie is that DreamWorks tried to make their own version of Turning Red, which ended up being something boring and generic.

The plot is generic and highly predictable. The first trailer basically sums up the entire movie and if you've watched it before, you'll know how each event will play out.

The jokes are bland and not funny. I tried to force myself to laugh at at least one of them and I couldn't. Basically I kept looking at the clock counting how much time was left for the movie to end because of how uninteresting it is. I may not be the target audience, but the kids I know would struggle to stay awake watching it.

Basically I'm only giving it a 5 for the animation itself, which is good, but I wanted DreamWorks to keep the stylized 2D like in 'The Bad Guys' and 'Puss in Boots: The Last Wish'.

Here's The 4K Lowedown on the advanced screening of "Ruby Gillman, Teenage Kraken" (PG - 2023 - Theater) Release Date: 6/30/23

Genre: Animated/Family

My Score: 7.3 Cast=9 Acting=6 Plot=5 Ending=9 Story=6 Art=8 Voice=9 Music=10 Family=6 Funny=5

A shy teen learns that her destiny lies in the depths of the waters, which is bigger than she could have ever imagined.

"Ok Ruby...have a completely, totally, ordinary day...you've got this." This was a cute film...one that I think caters to the younger audience more so than the parents. This looked to be prime real estate for the 6-14 range, as it felt a lot like Turning Red. I would have bought it on physical...my autistic granddaughter would like this, I think. With good artwork, great voiceovers, and a fantastic soundtrack, this makes for a pretty good watch.

I'm 30 and this made me feel like an innocent 8 year old nice for someone that has autism and tries really hard to be a good person/wholesome often. This was a wonderful family film that had me captivated throughout and would recommend to anyone! Very well made I'm sure this and Spider-Man: Into the Spiderverse will be nominated next awards season. Ruby Gilman, Teenage Kraken was a wonderful choice for Monday mystery movie that I hope when it does release fully a lot of appreciate it with their families or by themself. The flow, colors, story, voices and mature lessons were all great I should try to do more of the surprise movies.

It's almost like DreamWorks threw Turning Red and Luca into a blender and out popped this film. Not saying that's a bad thing, as those are both enjoyable films, but Ruby Gilman is left lacking originality with a pretty generic story and lessons. It's mostly harmless entertainment designed for young girls, which is nice since there aren't a whole lot of movies for that age group specifically focused on their experiences.

There are bright colors and visuals galore, accompanied by some decent laughs. I enjoyed the dad character the most. Plenty of fun pop bops are scattered throughout which add to the enjoyment as well. This won't compete for best animated film of the year, but it's far from the worst either.

Dreamworks has created the b*stard child of Pixar's Luca and Turning Red. And it falls somewhere in the middle of those two film's quality.

It mercifully has far less annoying characters than Turning Red, and handles its near-identical adolescent themes of family loyalty, self-actualisation, and trust with far more tact and nuance than that film did.

But it borrows the other half of its concept and plot from Luca, and it lacks the genuine heart and soul that was the one saving grace of that film.

There's a lot to like about the implausibly gonzo concept and over the top elements and characters. But the generic, conveyor-belt-produced story is hard to look past, as there really is not a single aspect of what I just saw that has any staying power. I'll forget this quickly.