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
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