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If, as the saying
goes, the ends justify the means, then Treasure
Planet may well be regarded as a fine movie. Not
that the end is the only worthy part of the film, it's
just easier to justify the rest of the film if viewed
from the context that Treasure Planet had a
satisfying conclusion.
I wanted to like
Treasure Planet. And for the most part, I did. It
just wouldn't rank as my favorite Disney animated
film.
The best part about the film was its very heart -- the
interaction between Silver and Jim Hawkins. Voiced by Brian Murray and animated by Glen Keane, Silver was a wonderfully in-depth characterization. To successfully portray a cutthroat pirate and a paternal mentor the way that both Murray and Keane did gave true life to the character. Joseph Gordon-Levitt gave an able performance as Hawkins, coming across as the "troubled" youth yet not making him too whiny. His look and on-screen performance was a little too X-Gamesish for me and something bothered me about his hair and muzzled face, but supervising animator John Ripa did get across the brooding look that would serve this character well. Every scene with these two characters interacting, especially the "I'm Still Here" segment that gave some insight into Jim's background, was worth the price of admission.
However, it was the supporting cast that fell a bit flat. The normally wonderful David Hyde Pierce was just OK as Dr. Doppler. Emma Thompson gave a fun performance as Captain Amelia but the dialogue given to her was too over-the-top. B.E.N., with Martin Short providing the voice, provided much needed humor albeit potentially annoying humor. It was almost too little, too late by the time he arrived on scene. And Morph, the shape-shifting "parrot," was just a little cuter and a little less annoying than Waldo, the spirit of 3-D, in Muppet-Vision 3-D. On a more positive note was the performance of Roscoe Lee Browne as Mr. Arrow.
Also of some disappointment was the look of the film. It seemed that it couldn't figure out whether it wanted to be a traditional 2-D animated film or a more 3-D film like the movies produced by Pixar. CGI parts such as Silver's cyborg parts and B.E.N. were actually well done and seemed to blend seemlessly with the pencil-drawn animation, yet other aspects of the computer generated imagery couldn't help but be noticed individually, taking my attention from the story of the film to the technology of the animation.
With its big adventure and ambitious scenery, go see
Treasure Planet in theaters. It is a popcorn
flick in every sense of the term that gets better and
better as it goes. It may not have the repeatability
factor that some recent movies such as Monsters,
Inc. and Lilo & Stitch have had, but even a
slightly above average Disney film like Treasure
Planet is worlds above what other studios churn
out.
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