How does a classic like "Robinson Crusoe" (1719) translate to the screen? Well according to NBC, the way to do it is a 13-part mini-series on a paradise island with a tree house out of an eight-year-old's dream. Of course, the story is exciting since it's based on a text that is still popular after almost 300 years, and there isn't anything necessarily wrong with the show. It simply relies too much on TV clichés and bad special effects, turning it into a cheap, after-school-special adaptation of a beloved novel.
The show opens with the image of a shipwreck. Crusoe (played by Philip Winchester) discovers he is the only human left alive, and, along with a dog named Dundee, is stranded on an island. Fast-forward to the present-day: He sees a ship in the distance and uses one of his many contraptions to start a fire. Clearly, he's been planning his rescue for a very long time, and all of his spare time has inspired inventions that won't exist for another 200 years.
The newcomers to the island turn out to be pirates searching for a hidden treasure following a map drawn on an old man's back by his cellmate in prison. The man who knew the location of the treasure had a daughter, Judy (Georgina Rylance), who is now one of the pirates. Besides Crusoe, her character has the most depth: She is ruthless, tough, beautiful and intimidating, yet she seems to have some softness underneath.
With the help of his island friend Friday (Tongai Arnold Chirisa), the supposed "savage," Crusoe tries to thwart the pirates, and later the Spanish navy, from finding the treasure that happens to be buried beneath their tree house. Along the way, Crusoe leads the treasure seekers through his traps, into a piranha-filled river and finally into a battle for his life -- all to secure the treasure's location.
The plot and action of the show is enjoyable (after all, it is based on a solid foundation), but that's about the only compliment the show deserves. What little acting the cast does is mediocre and not engaging. The show relies too heavily on its special effects that look like something out of a cheap video game. The scene in which Crusoe tricks one of the pirates into the river shows a piranha that looks like one of those wind-up toys found at a gas station.
The show tries too hard to be "Pirates of the Caribbean" (2003) with a little bit of "Lost" thrown in the mix, but throughout displays an ironic lack of imagination. Considering that both of the above entertainment phenomena came way after "Robinson Crusoe," one would expect a unique vision of Crusoe's world. The only ounce of originality comes from some of the gadgets Crusoe has cooked up to get around the island, such as the hamster wheel he uses to cross the river or the interconnected system of bridges and pulleys which created pathways all across the island. All in all, while "Robinson Crusoe" is considered one of the greatest English novels of all time, this adaptation will never live up to that kind of hype.
