Robinson Crusoe

It was very cute but that was not enough to make it all that good.

The animation was pretty good, and I love the fact that the animation seem to be the focus of the film. So much in fact that no big name stars voiced any of the characters in the movie (Being a very small section of the end credits).

Although this did effect the story greatly. The movie is a retelling of Robinson Crusoe, from the point of view of the animals that help him survive on the uncharted desert isle for so long with most of the focus being on a parrot named mac, but Crusoe calls him Tuesday.

The story is not as good as the animation that is telling it, which is going to cost it from being a classic, but it still a OK animated film to see.

This is a movie that definitely will entertain the kids. Superb animation, colorful characters and beautiful score. The storytelling is at an easy pace which differs from some other titles targeting the same audience but is highly appreciated by the kids at least in the theater where I saw the movie. The story is loosely based on the story of Robinson Crusoe by the book of Defoe. Earlier work from the same studio was pretty good as well but this one tops the former ones. Curious to see their next feature and nice to see that a small studio from Belgium makes films that can stand next to Pixar and DreamWorks. In short: great animation - go see it in 3D though - for kids and yes, parents will enjoy it as well.

As a family film, 'Robinson Crusoe' is a long way from awful but it misses the mark. It may be good for kids, providing that they don't expect too much, but adults won't find much for them.

Just for the record, this is coming from a huge lifelong animation fan in her early 20s with many animated films being considered favourites, just in case one accuses me (as is so the standard thing on this site these days) of seeing it through adults eyes too much.

The best thing about 'Robinson Crusoe' is the animation, with the exception of stiff human designs and lack of scope for the setting. There is a lot of gorgeous detail, especially the parrot's feathers, rich vibrant colour, good smoothness of movement and the animals look good.

'Robinson Crusoe' also has a groovy and dynamic soundtrack, the story (even if a very, very loose adaptation of the story) is at least coherent and easy to follow and some of the characters have charm, especially Ainsley (though really disliked the rather cheap treatment of him) and the humorous if slightly over-used villainous cats.

On the other hand, while the story is coherent it is also very predictable, too safe and bland, not much to be excited by here, even the climax feels like very watered down Looney Tunes/Tom and Jerry or something. The human characters do lack the colour and charm that went into some of the animals, especially the dull and unsympathetic protagonist, and other characters veer on the annoying. The script is lacking in laughs, emotion or any kind of colour. The voice acting is not too great, there's been worse but it does sound inexperienced with clichéd and obviously false accents.

In conclusion, good for the kids but little for adults. 5/10 Bethany Cox

I went into this movie not expecting much, the reviews I had read where not very promising but I thought well it is still worth a try. It is not as bad as reports say. The story was fine, I like when movies take another point of view of a well known story, makes you look at things in different ways. The characters were entertaining and the graphics were good so I don't see much of a problem with it.

I will say the two of my kids that I watched it with (ages 10 and 3) did walk away from the movie to do other things but I don't think that was due to the movie but interest in doing other things at the time but take it as you will.

It may not be fair to compare an independent Belgian animation to industry dominators like Pixar, but the film industry is competitive.

This film has excellent animation considering it was made by an independent company. Many vibrant colours are featured, and although the don't burst of the screen like Rio, it does add to the aesthetics of the film. Yet, it does feel like the film is very self contained, but it doesn't impact it in a good way. The setting explored (or not) has a lack of scope and the film clearly suffers from this. But for kids, this will not be a problem.

Despite strong design and animation, the direction is nothing notable. There are a maximum of two slightly interesting ideas (in the form of transitions) but other than that, everything else seems average, with no courageous attempts add to adding anything to the story.

Unfortunately, the film falls flat on the storytelling (particularly through dialogue) which just results in everything being cliché and predictable; it brings nothing new to the table. It appears that the writers just gave up, a shame considering if the dialogue wasn't so forced then the film wouldn't suffer so much. There isn't even an innuendo to keep the adults entertained.

This film is a good way to keep the kids occupied for 90mins, but nothing that adults will obtain any pleasure from (unless you are in awe of the animation which I doubt you will be).