Film Review #37: Atlantis: The Lost Empire

I originally had zero intentions on seeing this movie.  I had heard all of the rumors of how bad this one was that I avoided it like the plague...until I heard who directed it.  Kirk Wise and Gary Trousdale, the same duo who directed Beauty and the Beast and The Hunchback of Notre Dame, along with Lion King producer Don Hahn.  In short, I wondered how bad a film this could possibly be, when three of the great Disney Legends had worked on it.  What I didn't realize, was that shortly after this film failed miserably, Trousdale and Wise left the studio and Don Hahn went on to Live Action films.  This film is one of the reasons the 2000's were so difficult to endure for Disney fans.  It had all of the right components, but none of the brains or magic that make Disney films successful.

Plot: "Archaeologist" Milo Thatch lives the life of a boil room employee at a museum in Washington DC.  He is also a firm believer in the myth of the lost city of Atlantis, which had discovered electricity before the egyptians had built pyramids.  But constantly being put down by his bosses make him have the desire to quit.  A mysterious woman named Helga appears in his home one night with an offer from an entrepreneur who new Milo's deceased grandfather.  The entrepreneur has a proposition: he is willing to fund a trip down into the depths of the Earth for Milo if he can lead them to Atlantis.

Milo and his team of eccentric individuals travel into the planet and search for the city, ultimately coming upon it.  While Milo bonds with the people's princess, the rest of the explorers only see it as an opportunity for profit and decide to try to be the White Man all over again and take their power source.  As Atlantis begins to fade further out of existence, Milo must save the captured Princess and his people from the archfiend Rourke and his army of followers.

What's Bad?: The film lacks magic, reason, and most everything a Disney film needs to work.  The characters are not in the slightest engaging, despite rounding up some of the best actors in Hollywood.  Milo especially falls into that quirky hero category, along with Hercules and Mulan.  The Princess isn't a very interesting character and her father (Leonard Nemoy) isn't much either.

The story is very clunky and not thought out.  For example, when the people get down there, they all begin to act very kindly towards the local villagers, but quickly turn on them like Anakin Skywalker did in Episode III.  And about five minutes later, they're back on Milo's side.  It makes no sense.  And if every solitary detail about a film can be picked apart, then the film should not have been made.

What's Good?: I guess you can say the animation is good.  Some of the scenes and animation are beautiful to look at and if a well crafted story was built around it, this would have been something special.

Overall: Disappointing.  Very disappointing.  In the year that Monsters Inc. and Shrek dazzled and entertained audiences, this was a most discouraging film for the future of Disney Animation.  Disney would need a miracle to pull audiences in for at least one more go.  The result...we'll talk about next post.

Report Card:

Hero                                  75
Heroine                             70
Villain                                55
Side Characters                80
Songs                                N/A
Musical Score                   80
Animation                          90
Special Effects                  90
Themes                             70
Story                                 65

Final Grade                       75