Review: Worlds collide in silly and sweet The Myth of Maracuda

Sometimes, loving animation feels like living on an island, or shouting into a void. Obviously, a ton of people watch animation. Every year, many of the biggest movies of the year are animated. Ne Zha 2, KPop Demon Hunters, Inside Out 2, the Mario movies -- all massive hits of the past few years. But once you get into the smaller, more obscure movies, it's a bit lonelier. It makes sense: a lot of the movies I write about here don't reach far beyond their home countries. A good number of them will never make it to the US, which is where I'm based. That's part of the reason I started this blog: to put a spotlight on animated movies that most people haven't heard of, in the hopes of encouraging people to be more curious, and to seek out more animation beyond the Oscar nominees and studio offerings.

Recently, via Bluesky, I came across a fellow animation aficionado who digs around for the hidden gems like I do. His name is Jeryl "Blaziker" Koh, and you can check out his blog here. I love seeing his posts, especially because he finds movies I've never even heard of. Today, because of a post of his, I learned about The Myth of Maracuda, a Russian animated feature that came out there last year that hasn't yet found North American distribution. And now, here I am, having seen and really enjoyed the movie. (Apparently, I'm not the only one -- a sequel is already in the works, and scheduled to come out next year. I'm in!)

The Myth of Maracuda starts off with a goofy 2001: A Space Odyssey riff. Some prehistoric monkeys are doing monkey things when a mysterious spacecraft appears. From the craft emerges a bird-like alien (who we'll later learn is named Tink) who can spout magical pink smoke. When the smoke hits the monkeys, it speeds up the evolutionary process, turning them into humans, complete with the ability to speak. "A gazillion years later" (per the movie, though I think it might be a bit less), we're in the Stone Age, watching as a tribe of cave people settle into a new home, a relatively safe valley with an abundant food supply. Things are looking up.

Our hero, Maracuda, is the son of the chief, and probably not the son said chief wants. Maracuda's sister, Spring, feels more like a proper heir: cunning, good with a bow, smart. Maracuda is a bit clumsy, easily distracted, weak. After the fire goes out on his watch (maybe the biggest blunder a caveman can make), Maracuda banishes himself from the tribe. Before long, he crosses paths with Tink, and an adventure begins. Tink wants to find a way home. Maracuda wants to use Tink's magical smoke to make his life better, to look more impressive, etc. etc. Oh, that it were so simple.

The Myth of Maracuda is what I like to call a right-down-the-middle movie. It isn't doing anything super innovative or exciting. Its story is pretty safe and predictable. The animation is serviceable but not flashy. The voicework is decent, though I kind of wish I hadn't been watching the English dub (but that's always true for me -- I'll always choose to watch in the original language if I have the option). This isn't a movie that's going to necessarily stick in my memory, but it's one that I had a genuinely good time watching, one that didn't ask much of me, didn't challenge me. It just invited me to spend ninety minutes having a good time watching a goofy, kind of random story with some funny characters and a lot of personality. Sometimes, that's enough.

A lot of the fun comes from Tink being unable to control what his pink smoke does. If he happens to cough some up on someone or something, anything might happen. For Maracuda, it gives him the ability to understand and speak to animals. But as other characters encounter the pink puffs, the results vary wildly, and it's very fun to see what happens next. 

The film does a decent job of keeping its various plates spinning. There's the father-son tension, with the chief learning that you need to love your family for who they are at each juncture, understanding that they might change. There's an unrequited romantic subplot (two, actually) involving Spring. I get it -- she's a baddie. And there's Tink's quest to find the device that will let him return home to the cosmos, where hopefully his family is waiting. And filling in the cracks are all sorts of fun supporting characters, like the meerkats who worship Tink as a god, an adorable dinosaur, and a rival volcano-dwelling tribe. 

And the pacing is just right. Sometimes, a down-the-middle movie is also a bit of a drag, because it's comfortable and predictable to the point of being a little dull. But for me, there was enough randomness and humor here to keep me interested, and to keep things moving along. If ever a movie deserved to be called a "romp," it just might be this one.

As I mentioned, there's already a sequel on the way, and I will happily be seated for further myths of Maracuda. He and his friends are an enjoyable bunch to hang out with.