"Selkirk" is the first feature length film directed by the Uruguayan animator Walter Tournier, which in the past years directed many good animated shorts, such as "Caribbean Christmas".
This movie, loosely based in the life of the Scottish sailor Alexander Selkirk (which also inspired and Daniel Defoe's book, Robinson Crusoe )starts as a typical adventure flick, but the correct direction from Tournier, the good voice acting and the cute (albeit a bit simplistic) animation style are able to make this a worth-watching experience.
Considering that this is a very modest production with a much lower budget than the stop motion films that are made in Hollywood, the visual aspect from this movie looks fair good enough: In a time where almost all the animated films seem to be done using CGI, there is a lot of love and effort that can be appreciated here, with cute designs, a lovely use of colors and beautiful sceneries, having also a great atmosphere which perfectly captures the light-hearted tone of the story and makes it enjoyable, even at the most awkward moments; that being said I wish that this would have a more elaborate script, with a bit less of forced humor and heavy-handed morals and more character development.
Actually, the weakest aspect from this film is Selkirk, the protagonist, which in this movie is pretty much a flat character with almost no personality at all. His character development is one of the key factors of the story, so I was somewhat disappointed about the fact that while I was watching this movie, I didn't care very much for him. However, and despite this, I enjoyed this movie. I appreciate a lot the effort put in this, and for me this is an example of an honest entertainment that whole family could enjoy.
This movie, loosely based in the life of the Scottish sailor Alexander Selkirk (which also inspired and Daniel Defoe's book, Robinson Crusoe )starts as a typical adventure flick, but the correct direction from Tournier, the good voice acting and the cute (albeit a bit simplistic) animation style are able to make this a worth-watching experience.
Considering that this is a very modest production with a much lower budget than the stop motion films that are made in Hollywood, the visual aspect from this movie looks fair good enough: In a time where almost all the animated films seem to be done using CGI, there is a lot of love and effort that can be appreciated here, with cute designs, a lovely use of colors and beautiful sceneries, having also a great atmosphere which perfectly captures the light-hearted tone of the story and makes it enjoyable, even at the most awkward moments; that being said I wish that this would have a more elaborate script, with a bit less of forced humor and heavy-handed morals and more character development.
Actually, the weakest aspect from this film is Selkirk, the protagonist, which in this movie is pretty much a flat character with almost no personality at all. His character development is one of the key factors of the story, so I was somewhat disappointed about the fact that while I was watching this movie, I didn't care very much for him. However, and despite this, I enjoyed this movie. I appreciate a lot the effort put in this, and for me this is an example of an honest entertainment that whole family could enjoy.