‘The Sea Beast’ Sets Sail on a Current of Positive Reviews (New Clip)

Netflix has weighed anchor on its latest original animated feature, The Sea Beast, from Disney alum Chris Williams (Bolt, Big Hero 6, Moana). The daring CGI family adventure follows famous monster hunter Jacob Holland (Karl Urban), whose quest to slay the beasts of the briny is complicated by Maisie Brumble (Zaris-Angel Hator), an enthusiastic young stowaway. Together, they set sail for uncharted waters to make history.

The film is animated by Sony Pictures Imageworks, and is stirring up quite a positive response from critics: The Sea Beast currently boasts a 93% Fresh Tomatometer and 96% Audience Score on Rotten Tomatoes, as well as a Metascore of 75 on MetaCritic (15 reviews). Here’s what they’re saying:

“Chris Williams has made a rousing, terrific-looking film, one whose emotional currents are all the more potent for being underplayed amidst the derring-do…There’s a subversive edge to the film’s idealism as it aims its sights at war, greed and hypocrisy, leaving official lies dismantled and edifices crumbled and, crucially, making way for much better things…Williams maintains the flow of visual delights and banter, never losing sight of fearless Maisie and conflicted Jacob, or of how these two orphaned souls connect.”

— Sheri Linden, Hollywood Reporter

“Animated by the pros at Sony Pictures Imageworks, the film features incredibly nuanced facial expressions and dynamic camera moves. A few of the backdrops look convincing enough to be real locations, but this is a cartoon through and through…Williams manages to sell the twist by appealing to audiences’ sympathies (’80s movie Baby: Secret of the Lost Legend comes to mind, as animal lovers try to protect an endangered brontosaurus from evil poachers). The results, while not entirely persuasive, are just gorgeous — worth seeing on the big screen if at all possible.

— Peter DeBruge, Variety

“Williams and [co-writer Nell] Benjamin are exploring the idea of revisionist history, and how so much of history is defined by who is telling these stories. The Sea Beast is also fittingly saltier than your standard animated film, with slightly surprising dialogue and an understandably relaxed take on alcohol — a rarity for what is essentially a kid’s film. But The Sea Beast’s best scenes come in the quieter moments, as Jacob and Maisie have to reckon with the realities of their worlds not being what they originally thought.”

— Ross Bonaime, Collider

“A whoppingly bland title for a singularly thrilling animated adventure is the only detectable flaw in this exquisite ocean-going yarn. Easily out-Pixaring Pixar, this is the third unqualified triumph from Netflix Animation (after Klaus and Apollo 10 1/2: A Space Age Childhood) that suggests feature-length cartoons are the greatest gift the streaming service has offered cinema.”

— Kevin Maher, The Times (U.K.)

“The final movie from Netflix’s now defunct animation department is a good reason to bring those folks back. The Sea Beast is a riff on How to Train Your Dragon, but with pirates (they’re called hunters in the movie) commissioned by colonizers to kill off sea creatures. It’s also a surprisingly fun, well-written and sweeping adventure that lands most of its gags and sentiment, and even thrillingly pushes the boundaries of animated action.”

— Radheyan Simonpillai, NOW Toronto

“The film presents a significant conundrum for Netflix in that I was disappointed to be watching it at home. Its scale outsizes our TVs. Williams oversees the type of imagery that belongs on the biggest screen possible, and to compress the presentation is to shrink-dry our awe and hang it on the living room wall (or worse, squeeze it onto our tablets or phones). The ships, creatures, backgrounds and set pieces are thoughtfully considered, gorgeously designed works of artistry; the action sequences are thrilling, suspenseful, wrought with skill and technique. Maybe the happy medium here is our ability to pause and rewind and lean in closely to admire such things.”

— John Serba, Decider