Treasure Planet (2002)

 

Genre: Adventure/ Sci-Fi 

Time: 1h 35mins

Directors: John Musker, Ron Clements

Quick Summary: Jim Hawkins is a rebellious teen seen by the world as an aimless slacker. After he receives a map from a dying pirate, he embarks on an odyssey across the universe to find the legendary Treasure Planet.

I'm not sure why I used to dislike this film, but upon watching it again, I find that it's actually a really good film. It's such a shame the reputation of this film is rather bad because I think a lot of people are missing out.

The visuals and world-building are really something within this. Personally, that is what holds most of this up. The space scenes are so pretty to watch, even if half of it was CGI, it still managed to mesh well with the 2D animation. It gives its own uniqueness in how It is blended because it doesn't ever feel too out of place, granted it may not age well with this, but my comment still stands with how pretty is it. Going onto the world-building there is so much to it. I want to learn everything as there are so many different alien races and planets crammed into this. It really manages to bring the element of science fiction to life. 

I was impressed with the pacing of this too. It had its slow moments, but I didn't find myself bored at any point. It manages to balance more character development scenes with action scenes and even the more comedic ones. I was very invested in this world and story, especially the characters within this. As well I liked the soundtrack to this, it fits perfectly with the aesthetic.

I will note, I struggled with the main character Jim for the majority of the film. I don't think he had a lot of development and he didn't actually change that much thinking about it. He did have scenes that showed a good deal of emotional turmoil, but those felt rushed and crammed in at the wrong times, at least that is how I felt. I couldn't get on with the whole, "Just wanna get out of this town." attitude, it was offputting to me as he is supposed to come across as charismatic and cool, but he just didn't to me. I get that he is supposed to be angsty, misunderstood and broken inside, but it didn't hit the right notes.

I also found it hard with the other comedic relief character, he was unnecessary because we already had a comedic relief character that honestly worked really well for me. His jokes annoyed me, and just everything to do with the character, I was waiting for him to go off the screen any time he appeared. Though aside from that one character I actually liked the humour in this. Sometimes they came across as really silly, but I didn't mind that at all. It lightened the mood for some of the darker scenes, but it still knew when to keep it serious. I'm really glad it never crammed any immature jokes into those, as honestly, it would have ruined it for me.

The development between Jim and another character I really enjoyed as it showed a lot of complex emotions and themes within it. A lot of the middle section was taken up by this and it fit perfectly considering the themes of this film as a whole. It was nice and lighthearted, though the montage left me wanting to see more scenes with the pair which I think could have benefited from it greatly. One thing I really didn't like was that they showed scenes of betrayal way too early on in the film, the building of their relationship was left damp because I knew what was coming and I don't think I enjoyed it as much as I'd ideally like. If they maybe pushed a few scenes later into the movie it would have had a much better impact on the betrayal in my opinion.

I think this is a fine film and doesn't deserve the hate it gets. It may have needed a bit of polishing, but it still has the charm that makes it worth it. It's definitely worth checking out as a lot of people have heard the bad reputation it got back when it originally came out.

7/10

"Just a lifelong obsession, Jimbo. I'll get over it."

"Now you listen to me, James Hawkins. You got the makings of greatness in you, but you got to take the helm and chart your own course. Stick to it, no matter the squalls!"