Atlantis: The Lost Empire

Thank goodness Disney is making some animated features with punch! This is one. None of that eye-rolling cuteness that you usually put up with because you are with toddlers!

This film is fun, fun, fun! The characterizations are fine, the science fiction framework better than most live action films of the genre, and the art just gritty enough to be cool.

The action is fast--almost too fast! But the film covers a lot of ground (and water), so things have to move quickly. I'd like to see the sequel.

Disney's producers should take a very proud bow for making an exciting story with excellent characters. And the actors who do the voices deserve strong applause for giving the characters true depth. (The doctor was my favorite!)

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Here's what I knew about "Atlantis" before watching it:

* - It's officially Disney's first animated sci-fi adventure. I'm not sure how accurate that is (I like to nitpick) but it made me curious first time I heard it described.

* - The preview looked, for the most part, damn cool. Evidently, it was also "too cryptic" according to some critics after the fact.

* - It apparently did SO badly that Disney said, "Screw it, let's re-release 'Spy Kids'".

So, with all that said, how is the movie?

Hella-cool.

I'm a sucker for animated fantasy that involves stirring music and rampant special effects anyway, but "Atlantis" goes all out. It's a throwback to all the CGI eye-candy shots in "Beauty and the Beast" and "Aladdin", so much so that it's almost an effects animator's Best-Of Show. The characters maybe aren't that memorable (except, perhaps, for the ship's medical officer), and the plot's a little dull, but this isn't a movie you watch for the plot.

Here's a controversy that bothers me. The "failure" (as in, it "only" took in, like, five-hundred-million or something; I know animators who'd kill to see fifteen bucks of that) of this movie compared to the popularity of "Shrek" and "Monsters Inc." has been seen as evidence of the death of traditional animation. I don't think that's true. How do you account for the "South Park" movie? What about "Final Fantasy"? Really, the story and the artistry is everything, not the method. I don't know what Disney's comeback movie will be like, but I don't think they're out of the picture yet.

I am absolutely astounded at the negative reviews for this film, both from IMDb and from the critics.

I grew up watching this film as a child, and I remember loving just about every second of it. Seeing it again at an older age, it holds up just as well if not better than I remember it. Some Disney films I feel are given too harsh of treatment from critics and I feel should be held in higher regard (The Lion King II: Simba's Pride for example), but if I had to pick the absolute most underrated film (animated or not) to ever come from them, I would have to choose Atlantis: The Lost Empire as one of my top picks.

To begin with, the animation is some of the best I've ever seen from Disney to date. The visuals feel so incredibly huge, they look realistic, they move fluently, the textures are amazingly detailed: One could be completely blown away by this just from the visuals alone. The scenes in the Crystal Chamber, the submarine, the fight/action sequences, they're incredible. The designs are something I can commend too. The look and feel of the city of Atlantis is very creative and awesome to look at, and I always got the sense that this was a real lost, living and breathing culture with a coherent society.

Something I feel this film gets especially right is the characters: Good lord, every single one of them is memorable. Milo, Kida, Sweet, Cookie, Mr. Whitmore, the King, Audrey, I could go on for a while. Each and every one of them have their own personality traits and all have their individual moments, plus no two are alike. Each and every one of them are likable and I found myself satisfied with each and every one of them. The demolition guy I especially enjoyed. Almost every line he said was hilarious, and his personality is hugely enjoyable too.

Speaking of that, that's another thing about this film: Its humor. I can't even begin to count how many moments and lines made me laugh. The writing for the humor is some of the funniest I've seen or heard, and almost every one of the protagonists has a funny line or two at some point. I think the most humorous scene for me were the ones with the demolition guy and Mole. Dear lord are they hysterical both together and on their own.

But on the opposite end of the spectrum, I absolutely love the drama that's conveyed throughout the movie. The story is very well written and it held my attention through to the end. It's definitely one of the most serious animated Disney films to date, and the first of its kind to not have any musical songs. Personally, I loved this touch. While I absolutely adore the songs in many other animated films, here I think it was more appropriate not to have any. The actions scenes are spectacular, especially with the final one that takes place. The violence and the gritty realism of everything makes the physics of its world seem closer to that of the real world (Or live action if you will), and I like things like that in animated films. Many characters die (I won't dare say who or why), a lot of depression sinks in for them, they use real guns, the violence is rather high, and I think it's great. (I'm not one of those people who always drool over action and special effects like with Michael Bay films, but I digress). The physics feel real and nothing is particularly cartoony in it, so I'm very glad Disney knows that kids can still handle serious drama like that.

And one other thing: The musical score by James Newton Howard is absolutely nothing short of fantastic. It could be because I'm a total sucker for chorus and choir music in movies, but the score here felt completely appropriate for the Atlantian setting. It has quite an Indonesian feel to it at times, while at other moments it has more of a Lord of the Rings influence to it, like when there's the loud choir going off in one of the major sequences. Every track has something to it, and it is one of the many Disney soundtracks I dearly wish I could buy to enjoy its full glory.

In conclusion, Atlantis: The Lost Empire is hands down for me the second most underrated animated film to ever come from Walt Disney Animation Studios (Coming in VERY closely behind The Lion King II: Simba's Pride). To reiterate what I said before, I am flabbergasted at the negative critic reviews for it, plus the rating here of 6.7 when that's more than a whole point lower than it should be. Atlantis: The Lost Empire is an absolute gem in the Disney lineup easily comparable to that of The Lion King, Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin, and so forth. It's always one of the first films I think of when I hear someone say they should revive 2D animation for all of these reasons and more.

This truly is a lost classic.

Atlantis: The Lost Empire could very well be Disney's most ambitious animated feature to date. It features intense, merciless scenes of battle and peril, depicted in some of the most stunning and fresh animation of the 2000's decade. The bravery and the thought process behind the film was nonetheless detailed, involved, and intricate, yet its payoff was pretty sour.

We'll discuss that later. The film centers around Milo Thatch (voiced by Michael J. Fox), a brainy cartographer and linguist who works for the Smithsonian Institution studying the language and the environment that existed in the lost continent of Atlantis. He believes he possesses directions to the underwater world of Atlantis, in a book called "The Shepherd's Journal." After getting shut down by the museum board to pursue the costly adventure, Milo conveniently meets Preston B. Whitmore (Mahoney), a millionaire who offers to send Milo and an already organized crew down to the depths of the oceans to search for Atlantis, all expenses paid.

Milo accepts and goes on to meet his band of misfits. They are gentle giant Dr. Sweet (Morris), explosives expert Vinny (Novello), teenage mechanic Audrey (Obradors), crabby Mrs. Packard (Stanley), chef Cookie (the late Jim Varney), and quirky Mole (Burton), whom are all lead by Commander Rourke (Garner). Together, they plumb the depths to search for the continent of Atlantis, and get more than they bargained for along the way.

The film's animation is lively, bright, and visually intelligent. It almost looks like scattered scenes from a comic book, that have come to life. The film was released in 2001, and unfortunately, found itself caught in the awkward time where animation was beginning to change drastically. Just one month before the release of Atlantis, came Shrek, a runaway hit shooting Dreamworks' popularity up to the stars. Not to mention, just a few years before that, we had A Bug's Life, Toy Story, and its sequel - all CGI animated features. Hand drawn animation was quickly decimating, and kids and parents blamelessly began looking elsewhere. That elsewhere was the brighter, more sophisticated color scheme of CGI; a method that would eventually transform animation forever.

Atlantis: The Lost Empire was victim of poor timing and unfair judgement, when in reality, it's a breathtaking adventure. It's not perfect, but it's a great leap from traditional Disney clichés such as soft music, cheery characters, and sing-a-longs. That might also be the reason why many parents were turned off as well. The film is very swashbuckling and adventurous. Some of the scenes of peril are frightening, intense, and very, very serious. The PG-rating is the not the thing you're used to seeing on a Disney film, and because of that, this found itself a bit blacklisted.

Because of all the uncertainty of where a project like this go, Atlantis's gross was a modest one, especially for animated films, and failed to drum up a significant amount of revenue. Because of this failure, a sequel, titled "Shards of Chaos," a spin off series titled "Team Atlantis," and a water-ride at Disneyland were all canceled. Disney was clearly anticipating a breakthrough success, but sadly, it all vanished before their eyes, and Atlantis: The Lost Empire would bring one word to people's minds; underwhelming.

Despite a few things lacking, like credible character development of Milo's crew, Atlantis is a wonderful adventure. It almost reminds me of a more attractive, animated Pirates of the Caribbean before the films even came out. The risk of releasing the film was high, but Disney took the chance, and as a result, created an attractive animated film with style, wit, and action galore. How many failed risks can one say that about? Voiced by: Michael J. Fox, Jim Varney, Cree Summer, Claudia Christian, James Garner, Corey Burton, John Mahoney, Phil Morris, Leonard Nimoy, Don Novello, Jacqueline Obradors, and Florence Stanley. Directed by: Gary Trousdale and Kirk Wise.

So I had the privilege of attending last night's New York City premiere of Disney's new feature lenght film "Atlantis: The Lost Empire". It was my first premiere and I loved it! It was such a thrill.

Now, onto the review. Disney is taking a huge chance on this movie for a number of reasons. First of all, it is NOT a musical. Much of the Disney name is based on the legendary soundtracks. Initially, I thought that the lack of music would make the movie seem a bit longer and not so Disney. But after seeing it, I thought that the absence of music was a great move. Even though I love such classic songs as "Under the Sea" and "A Friend Like Me", music might have made it a bit too kiddy. Nice job Disney.

Secondly, this movie is PG. It is NOT G and with good reason. There is a good deal of action (and those scenes are better than any part of "Pearl Harbor"). The partially CG, partially animated "Star Wars"-esque dogfights and chases truly are breathtaking, even to an adult. Yes, this movie might frighten some small kids, especially the scene with Leviathan and some of the climactic rumble(s). But overall, the kids in the audience weren't too frightened. The nice mix of humor for kids (and some for the adults too) helped to keep the balance of intense action and light hearted fun.

Lastly, this movie is not "Sleeping Beauty". This is not "Snow White". It isn't "Beauty and the Beast" or "Aladdin". But this is not nessesarily a bad thing. This is like the dark side of "The Little Mermaid." Disney pulled out a couple of the stops but for a reason. Yes, there is a bit of blood. It's not a gauging like the over pretentious "Gladiator", it's enough to convey real emotion. (Milo Thatch, "Atlantis'" main character, has more dimension as a 2-D cartoon than any scene involving Russell Crowe in "Gladiator"). This movie isn't the vibrant end of "Be Our Guest". The darker nature almost made you forget that this was an animated feature. It was very effective and finally someone at Disney realized it isn't all about selling t-shirts and plush toys. Bravo Disney, "Atlantis" surely won't sink

BTW, I got to meet Marty McFly himself, Mr. Michael J. Fox. Great guy, and the premiere did benefit his Parkinson's reasearch Center. Again, bravo to Disney, this was an incredibly generous move on their part.