My First Time: TREASURE PLANET (2002)

Watched in: June 2019

Didn't like ▢ Alright ▢ Liked ✔︎ Loved ▢

Would I watch it again: Yes, but not for a while

Would I recommend?: Yes

Watchability: Easy

Watch with: Family ✔︎ Friends ▢ Self ▢

I recently watched Disney's Treasure Planet for the first time. Dir. by Ron Clements and starring Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Emma Thomson, this film was innovative in its animation, but a flop at the box office. This is what I thought...

Plot & Story

This film follows the classic rags to riches story that Disney has always been very good at, and this one is no exception. It's a bit strange though, because if you know Treasure Island then you already know the story, the only difference is that now of course it's set in space. Still, the story held up and was interesting enough to watch, and the classic story line we're already familiar with made it easy to engage with as well, as not much brain power was needed. I did find it a bit slow at times, especially approaching the third act, as it seemed a lot of time was passing with not much going on. I know I've complained in the past about too many plot lines running at once, but I think maybe this film could have benefited from a B-story, as just the one major plot line wasn't really enough to see it through. It also felt almost like two different films towards the end, as losing the ship and ending up on the planet felt like such an abrupt change of pace and it threw me off a bit. That being said however, it was such an easy to follow film with elements of humour and action throughout, making it a lovely family film.

Characters & Performance

Much like how there was only really the one plot line running throughout, there was also just a handful of major characters to keep up with as well, which could be seen as both a positive and negative. Its good in one way, because it makes it easy to watch and keep up with, but on the other hand if you're only going to have a few main characters they all need to be well rounded and interesting, and to be honest, the main character Jim fell a bit flat for me. He was decent, he did what he had to do in the story, but that was it, and at points he didn't seem like a particularly likeable character. However, I really liked Captain Amelia (Emma Thomson) and Doctor Doppler (David Hyde Pierce). You can't really go wrong with a bit of Emma Thomson; I think her voice suited the character well and she added a bit of sass to the character. Pierce was great as well, making me laugh out loud as Doppler and providing some excellent comic relief at times. I feel I must mention the character B.E.N, the robot sidekick that is introduced when the film is nearly over. I'm sure a lot of younger viewers would find his slapstick comedy and cliche humour funny, but for me it was just annoying. He was a character included seemingly to provide the cliche jokes you see in every family film, like shouting something when the bad guy is right behind him, or giving information that has already been given, and it just seemed unnecessary to me. He was an ex-machina of a character, somehow helping to forward the plot even though he hadn't been present for almost the whole film. I'm gonna be honest though, non-animal sidekicks always tend to fall a bit short for me, like Olaf and the gargoyles, so maybe its just a me problem.

Direction & Cinematography

Now this is where this film gets its chance to shine. The combination of 2D and 3D animation and CGI makes for a stunning and unique experience, and it's such a shame it was so expensive to do as I would have loved to see more films done like that. It's visually beautiful, the shots of the ship in space are just breathtaking and are enough alone to make me recommend this film. The scoring was lovely, suiting the tone of the film wonderfully and not trying to be anything it wasn't. It's a shame, because the fact that this film isn't all singing and dancing probably had something to do with why it wasn't very successful, but it wouldn't work as a full blown musical, it'd have felt too forced, and I think the gentle scoring fits it perfectly. The animation and aesthetics of this film are enough to pull you in, and its a shame more people haven't seen it purely for that reason alone.

Personal Opinions

Overall I would say that this film definitely isn't going to become one of my favourites, but it is definitely underrated and I would encourage people to watch it at least once. It's a shame, I think if this film had been more widely enjoyed and accepted it would have become a favourite for a lot of people and some of the characters would be up there with the greats. It seems however that it has been forgotten by everyone, including Disney themselves, and I can't really see why.

Final rating: ★★★☆☆

Have you seen Treasure Planet? What do you think of it? Let me know in the comments below!

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0133240/