Austin
Since: Jan, 2001
09/01/2023 00:00:00
Yeah, that\'s pretty much how I felt. I thought it was a really good movie, but revealing that the monsters are just misunderstood was too predictable for me. It\'s a good message, but I would\'ve preferred it if the film had gone in a different direction. I do give the film credit for portraying the hunters as genuinely noble people, along with portrayal Captain Crow\'s descent into being consumed by vengeance into a sympathetic light.
I also agree about the witch. I wonder if there was a rewrite somewhere that left her role in the story unresolved.
Tuckerscreator
(4 Score & 7 Years Ago)
09/01/2023 00:00:00
I love this movie, and I love that the witch\'s Metaphorically True wording means she gave away a powerful rare weapon for free. Questionable business model. XD
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There. There Beast.
The Sea Beast is a movie that is exciting, beautifully animated and well structured. It is an excellent movie that is easily worth your time... as long as you are eight years old and haven't seen movies. With The Sea Beast, I'm stuck making the ever familiar complaint; I've seen this all before. And that puts this review in a tricky position because if you can look past its unoriginality, it is a strong movie. But looking past that is tricky when you've still got to watch it.
The first thing I notice is that this is an exceptionally pretty movie, and not just in terms of the advances we've made in computer generated realism. The film's aesthetic choices, cinematography, choices of colour and attention to detail all make it one of the best looking animated films to date. I found myself just getting distracted by simple things like the cleverness of the lighting in any given scene. It all works in making the film more watchable too. For instance, there's an extended comedy action scene involving two people ricocheting around on a bungee cord, and it is directed and shot well enough that you can easily follow the absurd cartoon logic of the situation. Character design is really neat too; though not the protagonist, the real stars of the show are Captain Crow, a hulking old sailor who is grizzled up to the eyeballs. And then there is Blue, a literal seadog and utterly adorable.
That attention to detail also comes paid to things like the design of the ship and the cautious adherence to nautical terminology. There's a lot of Master and Commander rubbed into these things that go beyond the standard, "splice the mainbrace! batten down the hatches!" generic Jack Tar movie speak.
Once you get beyond the looks and sounds though, the issues of the film are almost as apparent. You don't need a spyglass to see the similarities to the How to Train Your Dragon franchise; they basically swapped out the dragons and Vikings for big fish and whalers. It might seem like I am getting hung up on this, but the unoriginality undermines the positive qualities. The one novel element, and perhaps the part that will resonate more with contemporary viewers, is that in the world of Sea Beast society isn't just mistaken about the fish, it is being carefully propagandized to by hawkish imperialists who would sooner see the World ruined than lose their grip on power and wealth. I can't criticize a movie too much that ends with the hero triggering a Revolution that would probably end with a lot of dead monarchs after the credits finish rolling.
Finally, there is a weird plot thread that is left hanging involving a bargaining, evil sea witch. It's introduced and promptly forgotten about. I am assuming its sequel territory, but it feels a little untidy to have it dangling there unresolved. If there is a sequel though, I will be charting a course for it.