THE SEA BEAST
Cert PG ★★★★ In cinemas now, on Netflix from July 8
Netflix recently harpooned its animation department, leaving esteemed filmmaker Meghan Windsor’s dreams of a progressive children’s series gasping for air. Thankfully, this whopper of a family movie managed to slip the net.
With Disney credits including Moana and Big Hero 6, director Chris Williams was quite a catch for the streaming giant. And he’s delivered with a rollicking adventure set on the high seas.
Set in a fantasy 19th century where humans are at war with gargantuan sea creatures, “the hunters” have the status of movie stars.
Jacob (voiced by Karl Urban), swashbuckling “lancer” of hunting galleon The Inevitable, is about to take the pointy hat from the soon-retiring Captain Crow (Jared Harris). Young orphan Maisie (Zarisangel Hator) is so in awe of Crow’s exploits, she stows away on the ship before he embarks on his final mission.
Under threat of imprisonment from his Queen, Crow must slay Bluster, the most feared sea beast of them all. But, after a spectacular attack, Bluster escapes with Maisie and Jacob in its belly.
After spitting them out on a desert island,
Maisie befriends the creature who turns out to be a girl and something of a pussy cat. But with Crow on the warpath, can she convince the hunters to give peace a chance?
At times, The Sea Beast sails a bit too close to waters occupied by How To Train Your Dragon and there’s a touch of King Kong to the finale.
But the animation is stunning and it’s packed with salty, family friendly humour. The biggest surprise is its surprisingly grown-up message about enemies being invented by those in power.
Here, the slimiest creatures are the royals who have been conning their subjects with romantic fantasies for generations. Meghan must be fuming.