Review of the cartoon "Sea Beast," a tale of pirates and monsters confronting each other
A solo project by Chris Williams, author of "Moana" and "City of Heroes."
Orphan Macy Bramble grew up on the legends of sea monsters. Her parents died in a battle with monsters, which left a painful imprint on her life. The main dream of the girl is to go on a journey on a pirate ship with the famous Captain Crowe. And the chance falls, only the adult world is not the same as in the drawings in children's books.
"Sea Monster" is one of Netflix's most significant animated projects of the year. It's not just another attempt to keep up with the coveted Oscar statuette, but also a step toward creating its own animated franchise. The plot centers on a centuries-old conflict between pirates and sea monsters, largely inspired by the popular "How to Tame the Dragon" series. The similarities between the universes lie not only in similar concepts, but also in the central characters. It is up to the teenager to open the older generation's eyes to the mysteries of the world around them and help them understand that monsters are not at all as scary as they seem at first glance.
The Netflix cartoon is also the first solo project for the young but already established director Chris Williams ("Moana," "City of Heroes"). A kind of quality control has given the author, who previously worked mostly in teams with the genre's masters, new challenges: to create a unique animated world and a strong social statement capable of competing with Disney's work at the coming awards.
"Sea Monster" retains the basic plot feature of Chris's previous work. The narrative angle again focuses on a teenager whose dreams one day become a reality. Macy's getting on a pirate ship by deceiving the crew is only the beginning of the way: the girl has to learn the secrets of the world around her and to bring simple truths to the adults who cannot move away from conservative beliefs. The genre of the picture has not changed: in front of us again a fairy tale, whose events are quite difficult to take seriously. If you are not ready to accept the fact that the young lady who first got on the ship was able to change the ideas of inveterate pirates about the aquatic world, "Sea Monster" threatens to become a disappointment.
The pirate ship becomes a real home for the orphan child, a place where the heroes of her favorite stories live. Here she meets another orphan, a grown man named Jacob, who has spent most of his life at sea. The presence of two characters who lost relatives in their distant childhood helps the creators to explore the differences in the optics of the two generations. Events are perceived differently by the heroes - the world, which seemed in a girl's childhood unambiguous and black and white, is filled with color: the heroes of the legends are not idols, but ordinary people with their own inner demons.
The central theme of the new Netflix project is the problem of the extermination of flora and fauna. Through the images of sea monsters the authors convey to the audience the importance of preserving the ecology of our planet and the life of its inhabitants. A critique of the hobbies of animal extermination is accompanied by a journey through the hunting grounds: a graveyard on the seabed and a tropical island with rare animals, which people want to colonize, illustrate one of the most important problems today.
The destruction of ocean fauna is on the conscience of pirate gangs attacking monsters. On the ship where the girl disappeared, such an expedition is commanded by Captain Crowe, a brave sailor who has devoted most of his life to chasing the biggest monster. The evolution of technology becomes an obstacle for the pirate: the kingdom hints to the brave outlaw that his time is over, for now it is possible to catch monsters without human losses. Refusing to use obvious antagonists, the creators deliberately emphasize Crowe's image: the man's ambitions become an obstacle for his crew. The captain, confident that the new generation will sooner or later replace the old, becomes faced with a major choice in life. Can a man give his all and still not achieve what he wants? Is it difficult to devote your life to one thing and get a minimum return? Many questions will remain unanswered, leaving holes in the drama.
The struggle between man and sea monsters does not arise by chance - the reason is unreliable information: employees of the crown are constantly rewriting books about the adventures of pirates and twisting the facts. The sea wolves, by inertia, try to exterminate the monsters because previous generations did so, which in fact brings nothing but losses.
"Sea Monster" is still not without its humanistic tone and reasoning about the structure of the family. Jacob and Macy, trying to adapt to their new reality, find common ground: the orphans come together on the basis of the false perception of the world of monsters around them. The loss of relatives in the past has become a common trauma - it makes sense that it is up to them to prevent even greater casualties on both sides.
The new Netflix project suffers from the same problem as the director's previous work. The genre of the picture implies the idealization of the central characters regardless of their actions. This ultimately prevents us from perceiving Sea Monster holistically: a number of social statements are replaced by plot conventions that necessarily lead to a happy ending.
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