One of the newest animated movies on Netflix, The Sea Beast, tells a tale of war between man and beast. The story follows a young orphan girl and a legendary sea monster hunter who were both severely affected by the strife between species. When they cross paths with one of the the biggest, baddest sea monsters in existence, they learn that fighting may not be the only answer.
While the film is entertaining to watch and offers up fun dialogue and banter, it’s hard not to compare the movie to How to Train Your Dragon. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing, but at times it can make the story feel a little less fresh. The action scenes more than make up for that lack of freshness with just the right amount of spice, however.
The Sea Beast Review
The Sea Beast is one of the most entertaining animated action adventure films of 2022 so far. With Karl Urban playing the roguelike sea hunter with a tragic past and Zaris-Angel Hator bringing a youthful charm to her character Maise, the banter between the two characters is quite enjoyable. There’s also Jared Harris playing the legendary Captain Crow, who is a salty soul driven by revenge. All-in-all, the cast and characters are entirely believable.
The story itself is kind of a mix between Moby Dick and How to Train Your Dragon. Captain Crow, after years and years of chasing the big red sea monster that destroyed his life so long ago has become obsessed with finding and slaying the beast. His pseudo son, Jacob, was taken in after being abandoned at sea and learned to thrive as monster hunter. When a young girl named Maise comes along with dreams of becoming a hunter herself, her and Jacob slowly discover the truth about the war between man and beast. The film is a look at how younger generations are able to overcome the hate and resentment and war to find peace, but the story does drag a bit from time to time without offering anything really new.
What makes The Sea Beast truly worth watching, however, are the epic fight scenes. It’s a mix of total chaos and pirate-like ingenuity that gets displayed through a series of awesome sequences. There’s just something about a wooden ship attacking a giant underwater beast that makes it hard to peel your eyes away from the screen.
Similarities to How to Train Your Dragon
Although The Sea Beast on Netflix is worth watching, the themes of the film will likely feel like you’ve seen them before. There are a lot of similarities between both How to Train Your Dragon and Netflix’s own series, The Dragon Prince. All of these stories tell the tale of a war between giant lizards and man that has been fought senselessly for years — fueled mostly by resentment and misunderstanding. All of these stories dive into how younger generations, who have not yet been fully saturated with hate, are able to overcome the differences between species and stop the fighting.
All-in-all, the story follows a mish-mash of other classic stories without really offering a new enough twist to make it truly great. If you like this kind of story, though, it’s absolutely worth taking the time to watch.
The Sea Beast Rating and Runtime
The Sea Beast is directed by Chris Williams and runs for 1 hour and 55 minutes including credits. The film is rated PG for action scenes, violence, and some language. It’s entirely appropriate as a family movie.
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