Kensuke's Kingdom

Possibly the worst adaptation of a book of all time. Genuinely surprised to see such a high rating on here. Taking such a well written story and cramming it into an hour and 24 minutes felt really cheap. It's like they were ticking off boxes as they went along too. Must cram this bit in, include this tiny detail. Yeah it stuck to things that happened in the book, but to no real depth at all. No character development, no arcs. I had such high hopes for this film after loving the book. But it's just one big let down. If you've read the book leave it at that. The movie does nothing but ruin Michael Morpurgo's work.

Giving this an 8/10 rating

Another great animated film based on another book, and this film shows how a good family film should be done. This time the book is written by Michael Morpurgo, it's an adventure story set at sea and land. Frank Cottrell Boyce helps adapt the book, Neil Boyle and Kirk Hendry are the directors who have done a great job and give us a great different looking animated feature.

This is a film that shows that action, speaks louder than words, as there is more done, than said, so the cast done really have much on script, so everything is left up to the visuals and sound design, and it's a nice treat, a simple story of island life that is seen by two points of view, driven by circumstance.

Also the island and wildlife are characters in their own right. A very thoughtful movie.

I was really sceptic after watching the trailer. That I did after seeing the cast. I wanted to make sure my kids will be on board, but the trailer pushed one of them out of the watchers list. Then we waited and finally we set, as a family, to watch the whole movie and damn...that was a good one.

Now I will look for the book for me and the kids. It is very simple story, that reminded me of "Tarzan" or "Jungle Book" and off course a sprinkle of "Cast Away", it had the magic of both, with a twist. It is a story about a small bubble, that demonstrate that all men can live together, with animals also and without devouring each other.

Michael and his family are going for a world-wide tour, in a boat. Michael will drop from the boat and then will be discovered on an island by an older Japanese survivor, that made himself a private kingdom out of the island and is not willing to share or change anything, while living in the nature.

It is a heart warming and touching story that is simple, short and well performed, as talking about the animation and dubbing. It's book's background (by Michael Morpurgo) and simple, but very successful script (Frank Cottrell Boyce) makes the difference between another kids' movie to this exciting and Heart-wrenching film, that conquers you from the get go.

It's not very often that a movie hits me on an emotional level, but this really did. This is a stunning story bought to life with incredible passion. The score is magnificent and wouldn't be out of place in a AAA Hollywood movie, but it works phenomenally well in this intimate animation. The visual effects are stunning and bring the world of Kensuke's Kingdom to life before our eyes. The details of the story which I won't go into are both utterly heartbreaking and uplifting at once. I wish there were more films of this calibre being made on a regular basis and not just the same old remakes and sequels being churned out year upon year.

This film was an awful adaptation of a wonderful book. Every single aspect that made the book special from Individual characters to relationships and even the entire point of the book is missing or twisted to leave a hollow and frustrating experience as a movie. Sad to see. A huge missed opportunity.

Visually the film is nice and with a great cast you'd be fooled into believing that this may be a great watch. From the very first beat to its clumsy conclusion I cannot understand how one could take the book that is rich in characters, story arcs and resilience and then turn out such an empty stinker. Avoid.