Visuals and acting are a 9/10 probably - what absolutely destroyed this movie was the reveal and conclusion.
The backstory was excellent. We have monsters that will come and wreak havoc on civilization except for the rough and rebellious hunters who slay them. It's dangerous work for the hardest people. Our protagonist is a spirited girl who wants to be part of the hunter crew. We also find out the king and queen pay good money for killing the sea monsters. This is how the kingdom is well maintained. I did wonder how the king and queen are able to afford paying these mercenaries such massive sums but that wasn't important I guess.
The conflict introduced is the king and queen are going to make the hunters obsolete by building a massive warship which will be commanded by the kingdoms navy. The king and queen set forth a competition to see who can slay the biggest sea monster of all. This is a brilliant plot conflict point - the symbolism is technology + soldiers versus rugged hunters. Can society get rid of the proverbial gargoyles and still keep out the evil? So many great directions we can go from here.
But actually - the sea monsters are just nice massive animals that don't want violence.
But actually the war between hunter and monster is the product of state created propaganda.
But actually the massive war ship and military are basically nonentities that are wiped out the second time they show up on screen.
But actually the king and queen pay hunters to kill monsters because....because...well we aren't actually sure why.
So what's the moral of the story kids? The state is tyrannical just because. Monsters at the end of the world are only evil because the state tells you they are. If you just overthrow the powers that be, then you can make friends with monsters and live in peace and harmony with your pals.
Terrible story telling - so much potential wasted. The movie was pretty though. At least we didn't the see the return of the "men are stupid idiots" trope from Moana - the sexes were well represented in this one.
The backstory was excellent. We have monsters that will come and wreak havoc on civilization except for the rough and rebellious hunters who slay them. It's dangerous work for the hardest people. Our protagonist is a spirited girl who wants to be part of the hunter crew. We also find out the king and queen pay good money for killing the sea monsters. This is how the kingdom is well maintained. I did wonder how the king and queen are able to afford paying these mercenaries such massive sums but that wasn't important I guess.
The conflict introduced is the king and queen are going to make the hunters obsolete by building a massive warship which will be commanded by the kingdoms navy. The king and queen set forth a competition to see who can slay the biggest sea monster of all. This is a brilliant plot conflict point - the symbolism is technology + soldiers versus rugged hunters. Can society get rid of the proverbial gargoyles and still keep out the evil? So many great directions we can go from here.
But actually - the sea monsters are just nice massive animals that don't want violence.
But actually the war between hunter and monster is the product of state created propaganda.
But actually the massive war ship and military are basically nonentities that are wiped out the second time they show up on screen.
But actually the king and queen pay hunters to kill monsters because....because...well we aren't actually sure why.
So what's the moral of the story kids? The state is tyrannical just because. Monsters at the end of the world are only evil because the state tells you they are. If you just overthrow the powers that be, then you can make friends with monsters and live in peace and harmony with your pals.
Terrible story telling - so much potential wasted. The movie was pretty though. At least we didn't the see the return of the "men are stupid idiots" trope from Moana - the sexes were well represented in this one.