The Legend of Ochi is the feature debut of writer/director/producer Isaiah Saxon, who comes with a respectable CV in animation and music videos. Stop me if the premise sounds familiar.

1. Our setting is a remote island nation where the human population is stuck in a perpetual war for survival against horrific beasts (the eponymous ochi).
2. The main antagonist is the local chief hunter (Maxim, played by Willem Dafoe), who’s got a personal vendetta against the monsters in connection with his missing wife (Dasha, played by Emily Watson).
3. Our protagonist is the chief’s kid (Yuri, played by Helena Zengel), a misfit who’s squeamish about the family business of hunting monsters.
4. The plot kicks off when our protagonist befriends a young wounded monster, and thus sets out on a coming-of-age quest to achieve peace between the two species.

On the surface, it definitely sounds like we got a live-action How to Train Your Dragon remake a month ahead of schedule. But there are a number of details that set this one apart.

First of all, this was clearly intended to take place in modern-day Carpathia. Granted, this is the kind of rural backwater where broadband internet and cell phone coverage would be inaccessible, but we still get cars and boomboxes and a whole action set piece in a supermarket. The point being that this isn’t quite so long ago and not so far away as HTTYD or most other fairy tales in this lane. And of course we can’t forget that Berk was a huge thriving metropolis by the standards of the setting, while this picture is set in some tiny off-the-map village, that makes another significant difference.

Secondly, our protagonist this time is a girl. And her father surrounds himself with impressionable young boys to indoctrinate them in the ways of ochi hunting. That changes everything. The contrast calls further attention to how Yuri doesn’t belong here, while also making a clear point about toxic masculinity and generational trauma.

The movie is right up front, leaving no ambiguity about the monstrous actions of Maxim and his crew. In literally the first scene, we’re watching this delusional madman and his platoon of hyperactive teenagers burn down trees and gun down animals who were simply minding their own business. All throughout the picture, we’re repeatedly shown that Maxim is an unhinged narcissist taking out his frustrations on the ochi (and it’s all expertly played by Dafoe, of course).

By contrast, the film is explicitly clear in showing Yuri’s development into something more primal and beastly. She gets dirty, she gets bloodied, she makes extensive use of false fanged teeth, and so on. In learning how to live and work with a young ochi, she pretty much becomes an ochi herself. Though she’s always wearing a bright yellow raincoat that nicely pops against the greens and greys of the forest backdrop, kudos to the costume designer for that one.

By the way, the young ochi in question never gets a name. After all, names are a human invention and animals seem to get by without the use of names. It’s inconvenient, but it makes thematic sense. Especially considering the importance of establishing that while the humans may be the assholes here, it’s not like the ochi are completely harmless. Seriously, it’s terrifying how much damage this young injured ochi can unintentionally cause with just one bite.

Funny enough, the civilization/nature conflict is perhaps best embodied by Yuri’s parents. Of course Maxim represents the toxic and destructive delusional patriarchy of modern civilization. But then we meet Dacha, and we learn that she ran off to be a reclusive hermit in the woods. One is obsessed with conquering nature, the other fervently believes in surrendering to nature, and they’re both assholes. And they’re both shitty parents to boot. Naturally, this adds a new layer to Yuri’s development arc in learning to be her own woman. The effort to reconcile both species dovetails superbly with the more personal stakes of reconciling her parents. It’s nicely done.

So, are there any nitpicks? Well, Finn Wolfhard is easily the weak link of the cast. Not through any fault of his own, but the script gives him nothing to work with. The dialogue and plot have a nasty habit of bringing up potential avenues for the character to show any kind of development or agency, and none of it is ever actually delivered.

The other major problem is the ending. I get what the filmmakers were trying to go for, but the delivery is way too soft. Too strong on aesthetics and too weak on concrete actions and consequences. Too much of the actors crying and not enough of the audience crying.

Of course, it certainly didn’t help that so much of the ending was dependent on ochi communication. Specifically, the ochi are shown to speak in this trilling kind of music. It sounds great in small doses and at reasonable volumes. But the climax is filled with so much ochi song at such high volumes that it got to be terribly grating.

But for all my complaints about how the ochi sound, they look goddamn incredible. From start to finish, the prosthetic effects and animation are flat-out phenomenal. It makes such a huge difference when the actors are interacting with physical puppets, running their fingers through actual fur. The puppeteering and computer effects all throughout this picture are perfectly seamless, it’s magnificent.

Overall, The Legend of Ochi is a neat throwback to the childhood classics of the ’80s (E.T., The Flight of the Navigator, The NeverEnding Story, etc.) that delivered dark yet kid-friendly horror/fantasy and spellbinding creature effects. It’s a shame the filmmakers wasted money getting Finn Wolfhard’s name recognition and not much else from him, but the rest of the cast is more than talented enough to pick up the slack and I look forward to seeing more from Helena Zengel. The starting point may be derivative and the ending is a bit of a letdown, but everything in between is a damn fine adventure.

Overall, I’d chalk this one up as a bold and exciting debut from a highly promising new auteur. I’d be astounded and supremely disappointed if this movie didn’t instantly put Isaiah Saxon in the running to direct some new superhero property, or at least a new potential franchise at Blumhouse. In the meantime, this is exactly the kind of movie everyone keeps saying they want Hollywood to make more of, so put your money where your mouth is and check this one out.