The leader of a fourteenth century Scottish whaling village must seek out and do battle with a whale many times larger than any he has ever seen in order to ransom back his son from the occupying English.

This concept sounds like a mongrel cross between “Moby Dick” and “Beowulf”. And, even as that, it lacks promise as effective drama.

Firstly, what real threat does this big whale represent to the British? Is it threatening some trade route? If so, why couldn’t the Poms send out a trio of warships to find it, bracket it, and then kill it? Cannons were available by 1350. In fact, ship-mounted ballistae would do the trick as a cheaper alternative. So why bother involving recalcitrant Scots in this at all? If the whale is not worth three warships, then, again, why would the Poms care about it? Big plot logic hole just here.

Secondly, while “Jaws” successfully made a sea animal an effective antagonist, its doubtful that a conventional big whale could come close. Even sperm whales are not in the habit of munching on humans (or even seals or dolphins … their jaws don’t work well for that). While a conventional whale could certainly defend itself competently against whalers, these creatures are not in the habit of attacking anyone minding their own business. So where’s the threat even to the Scots? [I am treating orca/killer whales as unconventional types here.]

If this particular big whale is somehow atypically aggressive and bloodthirsty, then what seperates this story from “Moby Dick”? What’s the difference? The kid held for ransom? Hardly a difference of substance!

I could go on. This story should be sunk. It’s not worth patching and refloating.

Steven Fernandez (Judge)