It's easy to get swept up in the grandeur of this movie. From the unique and memorable character designs to the jaw-dropping visuals and mesmerizing music, the entire presentation screams "Blockbuster Epic!"
It's such a shame it was made by the same studio that is responsible for the cringily tone-confused "Hunchback of Notre Dame." Not that that isn't an overall good movie, but if "Hunchback" was a slight failure at an attempt for Disney to draw in an older audience, "Atlantis" is an even greater failure that almost makes the viewer weep from how wasted so much of its potential is.
Weep in remorse, that is, after initially weeping from the sheer spectacle, heart, and passion of the film.
Every frame of artwork and so much dialogue is a testament to how much the animators and writers put into "Atlantis: The Lost Empire." While a lot of the humor falls entirely flat thanks to the stereotypical Disney comic relief character, pretty much every character is incredibly funny and likable, owing in part to some brilliantly improvised dialogue--particularly on the part of Don Novello as Vincenzo "Vinny" and Michael J. Fox as Milo--and the fantastic chemistry the main cast has together. The animation can only be described as astounding, blending 2D and CG 3D animation so flawlessly that it is almost impossible to tell where one method begins or ends, complimented by a sweeping musical score by James Newton Howard that is not given nearly enough recognition.
It isn't too difficult for a multi-billion dollar company like Disney to get the technical aspects of a film right by any means, so of course the area where the film mostly flops is its story. Despite its grand presentation and slightly darker, more "adult" tone, "Atlantis" only clocks in at the standard family film runtime of an hour and a half, mixing quiet, reflective character-building moments with blistering action that at times comes out of nowhere when the audience would have loved to have spent more time in a particular set piece just to have a look around or use it to build up the importance of the adventure while developing the characters. Speaking of the action, the body count feels unnecessarily high. It's almost as if Disney thought that in order for the movie to be more "adult," they needed to kill as many people as possible when, realistically, more of them would have made it through the journey. And the villain is unfortunately the very first in a long line of Disney Twist Villains (TM), where a likable character is suddenly revealed to be evil and has all of the motivations of a Saturday morning cartoon baddie. There are lots of obvious plot holes that I marvel at how the writers actually thought they made sense. Related to this, which turns out to be a huge plot point, a cool factoid is that the same guy who created the Klingon language created the Atlantean language, blending a whole bunch of different syntaxes together to make a complete and fascinating fictional language that could exist in the real world in a different time.
On a side note, I should mention how underappreciated Princess Kida is. She isn't the stereotypical Damsel in Distress like most Disney princesses, yet she isn't an insufferably tough and manly Mary Sue like too many heroines are nowadays. She's mildly ditzy and naive, as she is totally inexperienced with the outside world, and her chemistry with Milo is genuinely endearing, even if their relationship is kind of rushed. But at least they don't actually fall in love right away. It only took you seventy years, Disney!
Also, she is by far the most beautiful Disney princess. From the moment she first lifts her mask to reveal her face (and smoking hot bod!) the audience can immediately grasp her personality by her curious expression radiating from her blue . . . Huge . . . Expressive . . . Eyes. . . .
I can imagine Kida was a lot of young teenage boys first waifu.
In closing, I definitely recommend watching "Atlantis" if you want a sharp dose of early-2000's nostalgia and you're willing to turn your brain off to ignore giant plot holes and appreciate a cast of fun characters and a majorly imaginative adventure. Out of all Disney animated movies, this one certainly deserves a remake, whether it be animated (IN 2D, GOT IT, DISNEY???) or a live action blockbuster, preferably as a series of films to properly explore the many incredible concepts and characters that were never quite properly fleshed out.
Do it for Kida! <3.
It's such a shame it was made by the same studio that is responsible for the cringily tone-confused "Hunchback of Notre Dame." Not that that isn't an overall good movie, but if "Hunchback" was a slight failure at an attempt for Disney to draw in an older audience, "Atlantis" is an even greater failure that almost makes the viewer weep from how wasted so much of its potential is.
Weep in remorse, that is, after initially weeping from the sheer spectacle, heart, and passion of the film.
Every frame of artwork and so much dialogue is a testament to how much the animators and writers put into "Atlantis: The Lost Empire." While a lot of the humor falls entirely flat thanks to the stereotypical Disney comic relief character, pretty much every character is incredibly funny and likable, owing in part to some brilliantly improvised dialogue--particularly on the part of Don Novello as Vincenzo "Vinny" and Michael J. Fox as Milo--and the fantastic chemistry the main cast has together. The animation can only be described as astounding, blending 2D and CG 3D animation so flawlessly that it is almost impossible to tell where one method begins or ends, complimented by a sweeping musical score by James Newton Howard that is not given nearly enough recognition.
It isn't too difficult for a multi-billion dollar company like Disney to get the technical aspects of a film right by any means, so of course the area where the film mostly flops is its story. Despite its grand presentation and slightly darker, more "adult" tone, "Atlantis" only clocks in at the standard family film runtime of an hour and a half, mixing quiet, reflective character-building moments with blistering action that at times comes out of nowhere when the audience would have loved to have spent more time in a particular set piece just to have a look around or use it to build up the importance of the adventure while developing the characters. Speaking of the action, the body count feels unnecessarily high. It's almost as if Disney thought that in order for the movie to be more "adult," they needed to kill as many people as possible when, realistically, more of them would have made it through the journey. And the villain is unfortunately the very first in a long line of Disney Twist Villains (TM), where a likable character is suddenly revealed to be evil and has all of the motivations of a Saturday morning cartoon baddie. There are lots of obvious plot holes that I marvel at how the writers actually thought they made sense. Related to this, which turns out to be a huge plot point, a cool factoid is that the same guy who created the Klingon language created the Atlantean language, blending a whole bunch of different syntaxes together to make a complete and fascinating fictional language that could exist in the real world in a different time.
On a side note, I should mention how underappreciated Princess Kida is. She isn't the stereotypical Damsel in Distress like most Disney princesses, yet she isn't an insufferably tough and manly Mary Sue like too many heroines are nowadays. She's mildly ditzy and naive, as she is totally inexperienced with the outside world, and her chemistry with Milo is genuinely endearing, even if their relationship is kind of rushed. But at least they don't actually fall in love right away. It only took you seventy years, Disney!
Also, she is by far the most beautiful Disney princess. From the moment she first lifts her mask to reveal her face (and smoking hot bod!) the audience can immediately grasp her personality by her curious expression radiating from her blue . . . Huge . . . Expressive . . . Eyes. . . .
I can imagine Kida was a lot of young teenage boys first waifu.
In closing, I definitely recommend watching "Atlantis" if you want a sharp dose of early-2000's nostalgia and you're willing to turn your brain off to ignore giant plot holes and appreciate a cast of fun characters and a majorly imaginative adventure. Out of all Disney animated movies, this one certainly deserves a remake, whether it be animated (IN 2D, GOT IT, DISNEY???) or a live action blockbuster, preferably as a series of films to properly explore the many incredible concepts and characters that were never quite properly fleshed out.
Do it for Kida! <3.