Atlantis - L'impero perduto

I thought this movie was very well put together. The voice-overs were also great. I liked how they all overcame their conflicts and reached their goals. I would recommend this movie to anyone. It was definitely worth the time and money to watch it. Atlantis has some comic scenes that made me laugh. Other scenes made me sad. And others made me glad. It is a movie any age can enjoy. From the moment Milo is the crazy "profesor" or until he gathers the crew up for the fantastic voyage under the sea. After I watched the movie, I read the book. It was good as well, but the movie puts better pictures in your mind. It is just like the book. But go ahead and watch this movie!

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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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.

Maybe it's because it doesn't follow the typical Disney formula, but this fun, interesting, and hits on some relevant points about dreams, ambitions, and human greed. If you're looking for a dashing prince to save a beautiful princess, go watch another movie. If you want a movie that is enjoyable to watch again and again, watch this one. While character development varies, it's not hard to like the characters. Even the antagonists are likable, in the way that only villains can be. The animation style is different than most other Disney films, and personally, I like it.

This is one of those movies Disney has kind of swept under the rug and forgotten about, for reasons I don't understand. Kida is not featured with the rest of the Disney Princesses, (even though she is one of many who are actually princesses within their world of origin). This is another nuance I don't understand, and it, sadly, only serves to prove just how under-appreciated this movie is.

Although I have said that Tarzan is the last great Disney movie, there have been some surprisingly good films like Lilo and Stitch and Fantasia 2000, though the best of the post-Tarzan Disney movies is Emperor's New Groove. On the other hand, some of the direct to video sequels are saved by some excellent voice overs and moments of cuteness, but overall they are cheap parodies of their originals, Patch's London Adventure sadly being the worst. Atlantis: The Lost Empire belongs to the surprisingly good side of the film spectrum, with excellent visuals, particularly of Atlantis itself. The music was beautiful and sounded epic, and the voice cast was great, the standouts being Michael J.Fox and James Garner as Milo and Rourke respectively. John Mahoney and Cree Summer offer fine support as Whitmore and Kida, who is so sexy. I only have two criticisms of this movie. One is that while the idea of the story is fantastic, it is a little too fast for my liking. My second criticism is that while the script is very good on the most part, I don't think it is as funny as a film like Emperor's New Groove, though Vinny was hilarious, so I just worry that younger viewers mightn't find it as engaging as their parents. Overall, very pleasing to the eye, and a very good film overall. 8/10 Bethany Cox