Treasure Island (2012)

I guess it's not the first version of the R.L.Stevenson classic that I see, but I don't remember any other one. If I've seen another either it was really long ago, or was really unimpressive. From what I heard, the version shot around 1990 with a young Christian Bale as Jim Hawkins might be the best. But for now I'm stopping to the newest, a mini-series from last year with a pretty unknown name in the leading position (Toby Regbo) .. but it depends how we define the leading role here ;)

I don't think we can consider any spoilers. Since we have something based on a pretty known novel I'll allow myself to do a short recap of the first part. The young Jim Hawkins, orphan of father and with a worrying living budget gets in possession of a treasure map showing the place where the fearsome (and late) captain Flint buried his loot. The treasure is hunted though also by the former crew of the aforementioned. Since all the wealth of Jim and his mother is limited to the small income they gain from administrating an inn, the young man has to call for help for financing an expedition which it gets from the local doctor and a squire who owns the land where he lives. Like that we get to the point where we have the three + a ship captain and a couple of crewmen on one side, and on the other side .. the ship's cook. Long John Silver - a guy with a wooden leg, ex quartermaster on Flint's ship, who manages to infiltrate in the expedition crew almost all of the former pirates looking for the treasure. Of course, their intentions are kept hidden until they reach the island, and after ... Well, after is written in the book :) I could say also in the movie, but even for the first part we already get some significant differences to the novel. Which initially was pretty distasteful, seemingly there just to impose some original note to a classic (= pretty much the same with all the "Monte Cristo" adaptations to give a similar example). In the end though, I can say, that different from other cases, at least the flow of the action didn't get simplified (maybe even the opposite). So, due to this let's say that the result is acceptable.

Let me get back to what I was saying in the beginning. Who is the leading character in "Treasure Island" ? When you read the book, you could define Jim Hawkins as main character. The most complex is though, by far, Silver, and I think this actually gives the level the novel has. Without the attitude changes, the manipulations, and the "political" flexibility of the pirate leader = overall the way the Long John Silver character is built, this book probably would hardly overcome a statute of a pulp adventure novelette and would be lost among others as I don't know .. the 15th Tarzan from the E.R. Burroughs series among the rest of them (with the difference that Burroughs wrote sufficiently many Tarzan stories ~ around 30 novels ~ to remember its existence). In the movie version Silver gets even closer to the lead character status. And in this particular case, the acting does its best to consolidate this. I didn't have the opportunity to watch Eddie Izzard very often. And I really couldn't imagine him as Silver. Who is far more dramatic than comic. I've been surprised. So positive, that I will probably give a too high rating to the movie :) But it really deserves watching hust for this, especially if you've read the book at some time and you still remember the character ..

About the rest, what can I say ... It shows that's a made for TV production. It's far from the perfect adaptation. But even so, the movie looks fine as production level. The director is Steve Barron, who's probably totally unknown, but for me is the man behind the best movie made for TV, as subjective as I might be :) - "Merlin", the Sam Neill version. Still, the level is different here, but it's ok. I would point out before closing also the score which unfortunately is quite hard to find and the cinematography, which probably due to the lack of budget was permitted to get a bit .. let's say "artistic". The first impression was a bit weird, but as the script changes, in the end I have to admit that overall the result wonderfully supports the dramatic side of the story. It creates that feeling somewhere that's between strange and eerie sometimes. Which ( if my memory doesn't fail me .. there are more than 15 years I believe :) ) it's present, at least between the lines if not directly also in the book. Which is more mature, more cold, more dark but finally it has also the happy end of a "a la Disney" adventure.

Rating: 4 out of 5 ( mostly for the lead negative character ;) )