THE SEA BEAST

Cert PG

114 mins

BBFC advice: Contains mild violence, threat, language

Is there any reason for young children to go to the cinema?

It strikes me that most of the anew animated and family adventure films are either available immediately via streaming services or very quickly after release.

Anyway, I guess Netflix et al are here to stay and I watched Chris Williams' Sea Beast in my own home just a week after it emerged on a limited big screen release.

To be honest, the only element I missed was seeing whether the audience bought into the tale of a monster with a kindly side. In other words did they laugh or did they leave?

Sea Beast stars Jared Harris and Karl Urban who give their voices to the captain and protege of a ship  famous for hunting monsters of the deep.

They are fearless even though the beasts have been the scourge of generations of seafarers.

One of their most fervent admirers is a young girl (Zaris-Angel Hator) who stows away in the hope of adventure.

But, even though she lost both of her parents on a previous expedition, she begins to believe the stories about their aggression are not necessarily true.

Thus, when she has the unlikely opportunity to make friends which the much-feared Red Bluster, she also seeks to spread the word of reconciliation between sailors and monsters.

Meanwhile, the tyrannical king and queen have sent a force and battleship to finish off the latter.

The Sea Beast has plenty of action, great dollops of pathos and even a song or too but I am afraid its message was too see-through and echoes of films such as Shrek were too loud.