DreamWorks has a strong track record of delivering breakout animated flicks that show potential to spin-off into bigger franchises – like Shrek, How to Train Your Dragon, and Kung Fu Panda. Their latest film, Ruby Gillman, Teenage Kraken, is unfortunately one of DreamWorks’ weaker offerings though as it struggles to leave a lasting impression.

The film is a coming-of-age tale that follows Ruby (voiced by Lana Condor) – a teenage kraken who lives amongst the humans in secret with the rest of her family. Although Ruby is relatively happy with her life alongside humanity, there’s a part of her that feels missing. She soon discovers a greater power within her as a kraken and a bigger world that her mother Agatha (voiced by Toni Collette) has kept hidden from her. However, as Ruby discovers this new world, she also becomes drawn into a greater conflict that could potentially make her and her family known to the rest of the human world.

Ruby Gillman, Teenage Kraken is undeniably a victim of poor marketing as its trailers definitely hurt the film more than helped it. After seeing the trailers, it’s clear that it basically reveals most of what the movie offers – from the climatic end battle to the stereotypical training sequence that sees Ruby learn about her kraken powers from her grandmother (voiced by Jane Fonda). It even essentially spoils the film’s villain twist and while it might have been obvious anyway, it’s just another instance of how this film had the wind knocked out of its sails from the start. The biggest problem though is that it never rises above this issue and barely tries to give itself a unique identity or its story and characters more depth.

Ruby’s story is pretty much a common coming-of-age tale of finding yourself and generational family strife – which isn’t bad, but it’s done so basic. The film rarely capitalizes on its thematic potential and doesn’t feature meaningful confrontations between its characters. The moments of Ruby confronting her mom and Agatha confronting her mother don’t really dive deep into their issues and deliver some forgettable messaging. There aren’t even some meaningful moments where the characters confront any real pushback being krakens, so all the talk about how people perceive krakens as evil just feels hollow. There’s nothing too unique about Ruby’s journey either as it basically follows a well-known story formula that sees her realize her potential, go through training, suddenly fail, but pull it all together to defeat the villain and live a more fulfilling life. It’s the same kind of story we’ve seen in animated movies time and time again.

It’s a shame that Ruby Gillman, Teenage Kraken comes off so unremarkable too since it does show some potential that’s sorely wasted. The film has a great color palette and some strong design in its environment and characters. The central seaside town has a great look to it and the characters almost have this Claymation look that’s very charming. Unfortunately, the same can’t be said when the film heads underwater as the kraken world might have some visually striking moments but is overall pretty boring. Even the finale fight sequence lacks real visual flair and all the build-up towards seeing krakens actually fight ends up being wasted as the final fight is immensely underwhelming.

The way the film struggles to stick to the identity it builds for Ruby and her friends is also a big letdown. Ruby and her friends are honestly the best parts of this movie for their wholesome dynamic and the punk/goth vibes they bring that are legitimately unique. Unfortunately, Ruby’s friends are such a small part of this movie compared to the incredibly annoying and obvious villain that’s established. Plus, instead of using some punk/or even pop-punk music to establish a unique vibe, the film is just littered with pop music that makes the tone incredibly generic and soulless.

Ruby Gillman, Teenage Kraken isn’t an awful movie by any standard and could make for an okay watch, but for it coming from a studio like DreamWorks – it’s vastly underwhelming and forgettable. It lacks any real strengths to make its typical coming-of-age story stand out and it does nothing but meet the passable standards and doesn’t strive to do anything remarkable.

Watch the Trailer Here: