Atlantis: The Lost Empire Review
by "Rose 'Bams' Cooper" (bams AT 3blackchicks DOT com)June 21st, 2001
'3BlackChicks Review...'
ATLANTIS: THE LOST EMPIRE (2001)
Rated PG; running time 100 minutes
Genre: Animated (traditional plus some CGI; non-musical)
Seen at: Jack Lokes' Celebration Cinema (Lansing, Michigan) Official site: http://disney.go.com/disneypictures/atlantis/ IMDB site: http://us.imdb.com/Details?0230011
Written by: Tab Murphy, et al
Directed by: Gary Trousdale, Kirk Wise
Cast: voices of: Michael J. Fox, James Garner, Cree Summer, Claudia Christian, John Mahoney, Leonard Nimoy, Phil Morris, Jim Varney, Don Novello, Florence Stanley, Corey Burton, Jacqueline Abradors
Review Copyright Rose Cooper, 2001
Review URL: http://www.3blackchicks.com/bamsatlantis.html
For reasons beyond my control, I was unable to see SHREK on opening weekend; and for those same reasons, I'll likely miss it in the theater all together. Bummer.
Uh, what? I'm supposed to be talking about ATLANTIS: THE LOST EMPIRE, not SHREK? Oops.
The Story (WARNING: **spoilers contained below**):
Milo J. Thatch (Michael J. Fox) is a cartographer who has Grand Plans on finding the lost city of Atlantis, the mythical, legendary city which even the philosopher Plato believed was washed away by a great tidalwave. Problem is, no one at the museum for which Milo works as a maintenance man, believes in Milo's Vision; just as they didn't believe in the Vision when Milo's late grandfather, had it.
Someone believes in Milo, though: Preston Whitmore (John Mahoney), an eccentric millionaire who knew Thaddeus Thatch. Whitmore finances a journey to the bottom of the sea, sending Milo off with a fearless bunch of explorers to find the lost city. Led by Commander Roarke (James Garner), the crew includes Roarke's smoldering lieutenant, Helga Sinclair (Claudia Christian); gentle giant Dr. Joshua Sweet (Phil Morris); the nastiest Cookie (Jim Varney) this side of New Mexico, and his soulmate, the dirt-lovin' Mole (Corey Burton); Vinnie Santorini (Don Novello), a man who never saw a wall he didn't want to blow up; Amber the Engineer (Jacqueline Abradors), who gives Milo a hard time for being puny; and Wilhemina Packard (Florence Stanley), a Communications Officer who could stand to take some etiquette lessons from Lieutenant Uhura.
Sure, Milo has the Vision; but do the others? And if they do find Atlantis, what then?
The Upshot:
As with DINOSAUR, I spent an inordinate amount of time picking out the actors' voices instead of watching the movie itself. Phil Morris was easy (more on this in the "Black Factor" below); and I'd know Michael J. Fox from anywhere, thanks to his grating performance as STUART LITTLE.
Two voices that got by me were John Mahoney (Marty "Dad" Crane from my favorite TV show, FRASIER) and Mr. Spock himself, Leonard Nimoy; I could've sworn that was Gene Hackman voicing Mahoney's Preston Whitmore, and Nimoy just completely eluded me as the Wise Atlantean King. Of the others, James "Rockford Files" Garner (whose Roarke I knew right away was Up To No Good), the late Jim "Hey Vern!" Varney, Don "Guido Sarducci" Novello, Florence "Mrs. Fish" Stanley, and even Cree "A Different World" Summer as Princess Kida [I just realized how top-heavy this movie is with primarily-TV actors. Hmm.] gave more substance to this "cartoon" than it may have come by honestly.
Whether any of this Means Anything, probably depends on whom you ask. I'm sure the actors would like to think they've made some kind of impression upon their audience. For me, they made *some* kind of impression; I'm just not sure it was a lasting one. To be sure, the movie was well-drawn, and reminiscent of classic Disney films like LADY AND THE TRAMP and the original 101 DALMATIANS. But in this ever-evolving, computerized world, is a nod to the past enough? Will "Atlantis" go down in the books as a New Classic?
The answer to that, I'm afraid, is "no". Being simply "ok; cute in spots; not too dull", just doesn't cut it. Not with more mature kids who've cut their teeth on computer games (and can program computers better than some adults), not with parents who brought their youngsters in at upwards of $10 a pop, and maybe not even with the wee tots - judging from the loud, restless ones that were in my audience.
Restless, no doubt, because much of "Atlantis" may have gone over their heads. Between the mix of TOMB RAIDER-worthy MysticMumboJumbo, the high-for-youngsters violence quotient (my Inner Child cheered at the fist fights), and the lack of Disney-patented singing and dancing creatures (though they weren't at all missed by me), kids may have wondered whathell their parents dragged them in to see. And while even grown-up grumps like me found ourselves chuckling a time or two, even being pleasantly surprised at the way some of the characters "moved" seemed to match their vocalizations incredibly well (Fox's Milo, especially), I didn't find that enough to give "Atlantis" my strongest recommendation.
ATLANTIS: THE LOST EMPIRE is good for a diversion, a quick Saturday matinee; but it won't stick to your ribs like a good animated flick should.
The "Black Factor" [ObDisclaimer: We Are Not A Monolith]:
Think back to all the animated Disney flicks you've seen. Ever see a Disney-animated Black human before? Andy Seiler, Entertainment reporter for USA TODAY, says you haven't, in his 6/13/01 article titled "'Atlantis' scientist is studio's first major black cartoon star". I couldn't get permission to quote it in full - so here's an excerpt:
"Dr. Joshua Sweet, one of the heroes of Disney's ATLANTIS: THE LOST EMPIRE, is a member of the team searching for the undersea world of Atlantis. And he's the first black human character in the history of Disney animated feature films.
That may surprise you. After all, you may remember Eddie Murphy's routines in Mulan, Samuel E. Wright's rendition of Under the Sea in the Little Mermaid, Brer Rabbit and Brer Fox in Song of the South or the crows in Dumbo. But none of those characters were human.
'It has taken a ridiculously long time,' says Kirk Wise,
co-director of Atlantis, which reaches theaters nationwide Friday. 'I wish I knew why.' Ron Husband, a black animator now in his 26th year at Disney who drew the Atlantis character, thinks he knows. Nobody wanted to do it just for the sake of doing it, he says. 'I wouldn't have been as thrilled if this were something just tacked on,' he says. 'We're in the storytelling business.
We're not trying to make a point.'"
USA TODAY doesn't have the most user-friendly search interface, but you may still be able to read the article in full at the page linked above; if not, Seiler publishes a newsletter, and if you ask him nicely enough ([email protected]), he may send it to you.
My take on Dr. Sweet is colored (heh) by the initial knee-jerk reaction I had about his size - he's John Coffey-big, and baldheaded - and by Morris' choice of vocal patterns for the good doctor. After that first flinch, though, I rolled with it; after all, no Cultural Dogmas were harmed in the making of this film.
Bammer's Bottom Line:
No singing...no dancing...no Magical Animals...no fun? Hmmm...mebbe Disney should just stick to what they're good at; that, or leave the Summer Blockbustering up to Disney partner Pixar (makers of the TOY STORY dynasty). From what I've seen so far, their MONSTERS, INC. shows lots of promise.
ATLANTIS: THE LOST EMPIRE (rating: flashing yellowlight):
The good news is, ATLANTIS: THE LOST EMPIRE didn't suck. But it just made me want to see SHREK all the more. For Disney, that's the bad news.
Rose "Bams" Cooper
Webchick and Editor,
3BlackChicks Review
Entertainment Reviews With Flava!
Copyright Rose Cooper, 2001
EMAIL: [email protected]
http://www.3blackchicks.com/
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