Over the bounding mien: a review of The Sea Beast

Directed by Chris Williams

Screenplay by Chris Williams, Nell Benjamin

Story by Chris Williams

Produced by Chris Williams, Jed Schlanger

Starring Karl Urban, Zaris-Angel Hator, Jared Harris, Marianne Jean-Baptiste

Edited by Joyce Arrastia

Music by Mark Mancina

Production company: Netflix Animation

Distributed by Netflix

The Sea Beast represents Netflix’ first foray into feature-length animation, and it’s an extremely impressive start. While the animation was done for the most part by Sony’s Imageworks, the rendering and design was in-house, and they did a masterful job of it. Of special note is The Inevitable, the 17^th century galleon on which our heroes ride. The details—including the shipboard jargon—are right. Ships of that era were fantastically complicated and specialized, but at no point did anything leap out as incorrect or anachronistic. (This was lampshaded a bit by First Mate Jacob Holland (Urban) who peers with some disdain at a boys-own type of adventure book about his ship shown to him by the young girl Maisie (Hator) and declares, “We don’t say ‘arr’ all the time. Not nearly that much.”) The art for the film is Oscar-worthy, with stunning and accurate detail, and the sound engineering is superb. The underwater scenes are strikingly eerie while remaining utterly realistic. The music is (usually) authentic sea shanties from the period.

The storyline combines elements of How to Train Your Dragon (some of the sea beasts even look like the dragons from that franchise) with Moby Dick (mad, obsessed captain who never reads his e-schmail) and a tone reminiscent of Princess Bride or Shrek. It blends these elements in a way that is aesthetically pleasing without seeming derivative.

The characters, and their interplay, are truly inspired. Captain Crow (Harris) is a wonderful blend of deep, caring humanity and obsession verging on psychosis. Crew Chief Sarah Sharpe (Jean-Baptiste) is the voice of both sanity and resolve for the crew.

But the real stars are Jacob Holland and Maisie Brumble. Maisie is an orphan, about seven or eight years old, whose parents, like Holland and Crow, were hunters of Sea Beasts and who died a few years earlier. As a result, she is accorded more patience and tolerance than a girl of her station (and a stowaway to boot) might otherwise receive. The relationship that develops between Holland and Maisie is a thing of beauty. Holland is the least interesting character, visually (bland blond hero type, John Smith with less pecs), but voiced by Karl Urban becomes absolutely riveting. Urban already has a half-dozen absolutely unforgettable roles under his belt (most currently Billy Butcher of The Boys) and this adds to his growing legend. Holland may have been simplistic and forgettable in the tones of a lesser voice actor, and his compelling friendship with Maisie may have been reduced to a formulaic buddy movie, but Urban works magic here. Zaris-Angel Hator rises to the occasion, sounding authentically like a young girl while at the same time giving her character a commanding presence that forms a remarkable combination with Urban.

The results, uncommonly great acting and chemistry in an animated feature, assure that this will become a beloved feature, and perhaps a classic like some of the Disney/Pixar greats.