The Sea Beast

It was obvious that Turning Red, Puss in Boots: The Last Wish, Guillermo Del Toro's Pinocchio and Marcel the Shell with Shoes On would fill out this year's Animated Oscar category. What was less obvious was who that fifth contender would be. That turned out to be The Sea Beast, a Netflix release that premiered last July. I'd say better late than never to get to it now. But there's just about two weeks left until the Oscars. So, let's go.

(Pirate voice on)

Ahoy, mateys. This be a tale of sea beasts and the brave hunters after 'em. Our hero be Jacob Holland (Karl Urban), the adopted son of Captain Crow (Jared Harris) of the greatest of all hunter ships, The Inevitable. Their latest hunt nearly wrecks the ship, an' they get a horn to show for it. The King and Queen (Jim Carter and Doon Mackhican) want to replace The Inevitable with Admiral Hornagold's (Dan Stevens) The Imperator. But Jacob proposes they have a contest: whosoever slays the top beast of the seas, The Red Bluster, will keep their jobs. The game is on.

The Inevitable get themselves a stowaway. She be Maisie (Zaris-Angel Hator), an orphan lass who grew up with stories of hunters. Her mum and dad were hunters themselves, too. Crow welcomes her aboard over Jacob's protestations. The Red Bluster attacks and Jacob and Maisie find themselves in the mouth of the beast. The two of 'em find 'emselves on monster island, where they find monsters ain't as bad as they thought. This leads 'em wonderin': was the whole hunting profession built on lies?

(Pirate voice off. I don't think I was good at.)

So, how did writer and director Chris Williams do for his first solo movie? He did good. The battles between Sea Beasts and human hunters are spectacular nautical encounters. You'll be on edge as Captain Crow nearly dies fighting the reptilian Brickleback at the start. The later encounter with the Red Bluster is equally tense as Red nearly takes the ship with her. Both Red and the Inevitable are saved when Maisie cuts the line connecting both. Equally tense is the climax when Jacob and Maisie defend a wounded Red from Crow and the Royals. There's plenty of thematic similarities to How to Train your Dragon, but overall, this film is its own beast. The only negative is its excessive runtime of 115 minutes. It takes over a half hour, for example, for the Bluster contest to begin.

Jacob and Maisie make for likable pair of co-leads. His dashing hero exterior is hilariously tested when he spends time with Red and Maisie. Maisie gets a cuddly sidekick monster, Blue, which helps her save the day. She also gets the dramatic arc as her dreams of adventure are shattered by reality. If any scene helped earn the film its Oscar nomination, it's the finale where they rally the citizens to end the conflict between man and sea-beast. You'll feel for Red when she, in a poisoned delirium, thrashes around at the palace.

Crow is the film's Captain Ahab. Like Ahab, he prioritizes hunting over his and the crew's safety. While the hunters expect to "die a great death," his battle with Red would have brought them needless ends. He's so obsessed that he makes a deal with a feared witch (Kathy Burke) for the weapon to poison Red. Still, when he's reasonable, especially in the end, he proves himself a good man. Equally good is his first mate, Sarah Sharpe (Marianne Jean-Baptiste), who spends the movie questioning her blind loyalty. She also proves herself a great hero in the end. Hornagold, meanwhile, is a non-presence despite his seemingly important role.

The film is a technical marvel. The Sea Beasts are all magnificent creatures. They're visually appealing with their chromatic designs and are quite scary when provoked. Red exemplifies that duality perfectly. Still, others like Blue and the walrus-like Warmbler hatchlings are unambiguously cuddly. The production design is fine for the mainland and is spectacular out at sea. On the terrifying spectrum, we open with a young Jacob shipwrecked after a sea beast attack in a storm. On the splendid spectrum, we see an alluring underwater world when Jacob and Maisie travel in Red. The sound designers create some great roars for the beasts, while Mark Mancina punctuates the action with an adventurous score.

The Sea Beast is a good family adventure film. The human leads are likable, while the beasts are impressive. It's a bit long, but its Aesop is welcome for this day and age. There's currently a sequel in-development and I'm all in for it. I hope this franchise stands out as its own beast with aplomb. Set sail for Netflix to see what all the hype is about. I think it earned plenty of it.