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Kensuke’s Kingdom Movie Review

Kensuke’s Kingdom is a 2024 British animated adventure film directed by Neil Boyle and Kirk Hendry. It’s a simple, but elegantly told tale.

A boy and his dog wash up on a remote island when a violent storm sweeps them overboard during a sailing trip. Michael is surprised to discover a mysterious Japanese man who’s lived on the island since World War II. Initially suspicious of each other, the boy and the old man must soon join forces when dangerous invaders threaten their fragile paradise. Based on the titular novel by Michael Morpurgo, this is a very sweet story that is perfect for children while also being genuinely enjoyable for adults due to strong filmmaking on display.

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‘Tarzan’ meets Studio Ghibli movies is how I would describe this film that has a wonderful ecological message at its core that was subtly explored. This is one of those movies that are simple for better and for worse – I did wish for a more sophisticated and ambitious storyline, but the simplicity led to better tackling of its themes and a charming, timeless quality to it.

The characterization should have been stronger. Michael is quite an annoying kid at first as I found his stupidity and clumsiness unbearable at times. But this was exactly the point for him to grow as a person in this coming-of-age tale of learning about the importance of responsibility, kindness and companionship.

With that being said, I did wish for a stronger dynamic between him and the titular Kensuke. The old man’s story is one that happened to so many of these Japanese WWII holdovers, so this movie through him got the necessary real world parallels to ground it. The Nagasaki flashback was also wonderfully handled and quite moving.

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But the problem here is that the two did not interact as often as I’d expected them to. They did have a lovely friendship, but even more could have been done with their story and you’d think that when two people are on an island together that they would learn to communicate more properly no matter if they share languages or not. That was a plot hole in my eyes.

Kensuke’s Kingdom is worth seeing for its animation alone. Yes, there was a distinct choice to animate its characters in a very simple and bland manner with the designs being reminiscent of 80s animation and not in a good way. With that being said, this was done to further accentuate the natural surroundings and this worked as the backgrounds are absolutely gorgeous, detailed and artistic. The facial expressions are also very well animated and you can read a lot just from one shot of the character’s face.

The score is also quite tender, classical and beautiful. The sound is great as well while the movie’s pacing is excellent. The ending is just fantastic as it doesn’t dwell too much on a heartbreaking separation, instead taking the more nuanced route, which made that conclusion so elegant as is the whole movie. The story flows well, it’s very sophisticated and it’s easy to be swept by its enchanting adventure and touching themes.

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I loved the poachers scene. It was both intense and eventually heartbreaking. That was the highlight of the picture along with the scenes where the boy learned to live with nature and appreciate it. The dog and the orangutans were just adorable here. The first act is also a very good opener and I just wished that the family had a bigger role as they obviously disappeared for the rest of the picture. But the island stuff is where the meat and the heart of the film is and thankfully it was very well done.