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What it's about:
Robinson Crusoe is stranded on a picturesque tropical isle in the midst of a furious storm, and he meets a cast of crazy creatures, changing all of their lives forever. No matter their differences, the castaway human and quirky animals embark on a hilarious new adventure, building the island’s first treehouse, and surviving together. But, when two conniving members of the animal kingdom, savage cats Mal and May, pounce into a battle for control of the island, Crusoe and his animal posse must uncover the true power of friendship against all odds—even savage cats.
What we thought:
Having never heard the story of Robinson Crusoe or reading the book, I was a little nervous when going to watch this film. Needless to say, it didn’t make a difference at all.
Whether you know the story of a man who gets shipwrecked and has to turn to a group of animals for help to survive or not, it’ll still keep the kids entertained.
As a family film Robinson Crusoe may fall a little short. For adults, it’s bland and uninteresting and yes maybe adults are not necessarily the target audience, but they’re the ones taking kids to the cinema. Kids on the other hand will enjoy watching it, provided they don’t expect much.
The film is full of adventure but I still found myself thinking they were playing it a little too safe which made it kind of boring to watch.
You know that feeling when you find yourself reaching for your phone to look at something while you’re supposed to be watching, that’s how you’ll feel watching this.
That being said the film should still get credit for the animation itself. The use of vibrant colours brought the animal characters to life but unfortunately it didn’t necessarily do the same for the human characters. Attention to detail was very unbalanced.
While things like Tuesday’s (the parrot voiced by Kaya Yanar) feathers and the facial features of the animal characters are done beautifully the human characters, specifically Robinson Crusoe, lacked the same charm and emotion.
Another unfortunate thing is that the voices didn’t do it for me. It all sounded like the actors were trying too hard to sound a certain way which takes away the authenticity of the characters. The weak script could’ve had something to do with that too.
Although it was a brave attempt for an independent film, I still find myself comparing it to the high standard of Disney or DreamWorks.
Robinson Crusoe comes just in time for the holidays, but to be honest there are better movies to spend your money on at the cinema.
