Chris Williams, who worked on numerous high-profile Disney projects, including co-directing Bolt, Big Hero 6, and Moana, co-wrote the screenplay with Nell Benjamin and directed this film. The Sea Beast can be a little predictable at times but its story about a time when sea monsters ruled the oceans and posed great perils to sailors is more thought-provoking and character-driven rather than a typical action-adventure tale. There is plenty of action, though, to keep the story moving, some of which might be frightening to young children, but it is otherwise suitable for viewing by the entire family.

The cast includes Karl Urban voicing the character of Jacob, one of the celebrated hunters who fight the sea monsters under the command of Captain Crow (Jared Harris) on their storied ship, Inevitable. He takes a young girl, Maisie (Zaris-Angel Hator), under his wing and together they embark on a journey to capture the Red Bluster, the most dangerous and feared of all the sea beasts. The story is filled with a diverse cast of interesting characters and manages to avoid most of the clichés of a nautical animated adventure.

The CGI animation presented in Dolby Vision can look fantastic. Sunlit scenes have a very natural look with the light glistening realistically off the water and the motion of the waves perfectly mimicking that of real life. The movement of the tall ships as they cut through the water and the gentle swaying of their rigging is perfect down to the the most minute detail; the faded individual strands of the ropes, the green oxidation on the brass fittings, and weathered decking all look amazing. The attention to small details is stunning. The captain’s long, dark-gray jacket exhibits great specificity in its stitching and differences in the texture of its well-worn surface that reflect light in different directions. It also moves convincingly with each stride he takes along with his baldric and heavy shirt that each move with the same cadence, but independent of one another. I was often mesmerized by these visuals.

While there is much to admire about the quality of the animation, there were still times when it could look a little cartoonish. Somewhat surprisingly, the rendering of the Red Bluster is quite simplistic, with a mostly smooth body and skin and uniformly red coloration that is fairly nondescript. In contrast, the crab-like sea beast it battles looked much more impressive with its spiky claws and legs with varied textures and colors exhibited by its gorgeous purply-blue, mottled shell.  

The Dolby Atmos audio presentation is also very good at times, even though there could have been more use of the surround and height channels throughout the film. The sound design begins promisingly in the first scene when a young Jacob is lost at sea and attempting to cling to a piece of wreckage from his ship. The sound is enveloping and exciting as the crashing waves and wind surround him, and as he becomes submerged, the ambient sounds of the water fill all of the channels. However, during the subsequent battle scenes with the sea monsters, there was relatively subtle use of the non-front channels to provide a sense of envelopment but little in the way of exciting directional effects. And while the sound always remained clean and well-delineated, there was only occasional use of subsonic bass to provide a real visceral punch to accompany the terrific visuals. 

Chris Williams’ The Sea Beast is not perfect but it brings all the charm and well-crafted storytelling of his previous efforts for Disney to his new partnership with Netflix Animation.