The Sea Beast
The life of a legendary sea monster hunter is turned upside down when a young girl stows away on his ship.
- Released: 2022-07-08
- Runtime: 120 minutes
- Genre: Adventure, Animation, Comedy
- Stars: Karl Urban, Zaris-Angel Hator, Jared Harris, Marianne Jean-Baptiste, Dan Stevens, Kathy Burke, Benjamin Plessala, Somali Rose, Kaya McLean, Davis Pak, Helen Sadler, Xana Tang, Alex Wyndham, Brian T. Delaney, Ian Mercer, Shannon Chan-Kent, Max Mittelman, Paul Chowdhry, Jim Carter, Doon Mackichan, Rajia Baroudi, Emily O'Brien, David S. Lee
- Director: Chris Williams
Comments
- philrealdeal - 21 June 2024
Good. Could be great
This flick has potential to be top take family movies. The cuteness but depth was some of the best in cinema. It has undertones of moby dick with a modern twist. I think the casting and voice acting were all top tier as well.
The reason this film was overlook and will never hit the "great" category is the ending message. The execution of the plot reveal was not good. It turned a whole positive message about understanding and learning rather than hatred into an anti-government, systematic racism fueled jab. Do governments suck? Sure. Is there racism around? Sure. Can it be worked into film tastefully such that it doesn't crush the vibe of a whole movie? I believe so. This one got lazy and just let it all hang out there. Some subtly that still got the message across would have been great. But here we are. - guoliannasell - 21 October 2023
The first half overshadows the second, leaving you oddly disappointed
Disclaimer: I watched this film straight without seeing any trailers, so you're getting an honest, cold-turkey review.
Let's start with the great things. "The Sea Beast" is a visual masterpiece, through and through. The characters are of many ethnic backgrounds, all working together seamlessly, which was so enjoyable to watch. Everyone looks so good! I was blown away by the effort in animation. It was immaculate, much better than I've ever seen other companies pull off. (I'm looking at you, Disney!) Everyone looks so good ... did I mention that already?
The first half of the film has you on the edge of your seat with its dark, seedy plot and heavy foreshadowing. The dialogue is top-notch. I was totally taken into its world, actually hollering at the characters when the hunting scenes came on. Up to the point Captain Crow visits Gwen Batterbie, the story is thoroughly engrossing. 10 out of 10.
But somehow it loses something very important right afterward. I was especially disappointed that Batterbie's story arc never panned out. They built up such rich foreshadowing around her that I was sure some fatal evil would surely come to pass when Crow unwisely enlisted her help, but the prophecy never fulfilled itself. It's like the writers totally forgot about her and moved on. Major, major loss there. There was a lot of room for amazing story development. They let that one slip right through their fingers!
Then the movie just collapses into a cutesy (brightly colored) children's tale of sweet baby sea monsters and Maisie's dealings with the shy Red Bluster, who's a watered down version of Toothless, for crying out loud. She's not even half as adorable. Her design gave it away; as soon as I saw it, I realized I was in for the biggest bait-and-switch of the century. We were then bombarded with a lineup of Pokemon-style creatures in all the shades of Crayola and all of their adorable ways. (So what happened to the hideous, vindictive monsters of the deep? Somehow they don't factor in now.)
The plot tries to carry on after its fatal wound but is unable to deliver. Ultimately, it all ends in a preachy, modern monologue delivered by the far-sighted youngster who changes the world--not at all what I wanted this movie to really be. It was very disappointing. How To Train Your Dragon pulled off that story arc without it ever feeling preachy or upstart-ish. We didn't need another Hiccup.
Six stars for knockout animation (seriously, if you're going to watch it just for that, do it!) and an amazing beginning (I enjoyed my short ride into the exciting and dangerous mystique of the open ocean). If I ever crack this film out again, I'll watch the first half and then turn it off and think about what could have been.
