A disappointing film with little going for it apart from some beautiful scenes and effects animation, Treasure Planet sends us over the often-rehashed terrain of Treasure Island, with very little attempt at originality. There will be no surprises here for anyone who's read the book or seen the previous Disney film, or experienced Treasure island in any other form. If you've lived your life in a hole and never seen or heard of Treasure Island before, you still will probably not be very surprised...the key shocker of the book, the betrayal of Long John Silver, is blatantly telegraphed long before it happens.

Attempts at humor are for the most part cludgy (though the flatulent alien was good for a giggle or two.) Worst of all, Jim Hawkins seems to be nothing but an appendage to the story...though it's clearly meant to be a character-building experience for him, he remains in a mainly reactive role, showing little character development or internal conflict at any point in the film.

Frankly, the epic failed to make a successful transition from great pirate story to space story. Cool-rebel-air-surfer-teen Jim rings phony, not so much a real character as a gimmick to lure teens and preteens in. It's clear the writers haven't made much effort to get inside his head and make him real. Captain Smollet is replaced by a hard-nosed female captain, to add gender diversity to an otherwise all-boy adventure. A Flubber-like, shape-changing alien sidekick adds little to the film. The defective robotic Ben Gunn is not as clever an idea as the movie clearly thinks it is. Aliens for the most part do not seem to be real and convincing beings (as in Lilo and Stitch) but refugees from Furry conventions and Saturday morning tripe.

(I did like the ship, though...)

Like the famous treasure of Captain Flint, this one isn't worth digging up: someone's been there before you, and there's little or no treasure left here.