Sinbad: Legend of the Seven Seas Review

by Laura Clifford (laura AT reelingreviews DOT com)
July 1st, 2003
Sinbad: Legend of the Seven Seas
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Sinbad (Brad Pitt) meets an old childhood friend, Proteus (Joseph Fiennes, "Shakespeare in Love"), the prince of Syracuse, while attempting to pirate The Book of Peace. The two are interrupted in their squabble over morality and the meaning of friendship by a giant squid, which threatens their ships. In saving them, Sinbad almost drowns, but is saved by the Goddess of Chaos, Eris (Michelle Pfeiffer), who sets wheels in motion to set up Sinbad for the loss of the book after it has been enshrined in Syracuse. Her plan works all too well, but the honorable Proteus believes in his friend and substitutes himself for Sinbad's death sentence, giving Sinbad and Proteus's fiancee Marina (Catherine Zeta-Jones) ten days to recapture the treasured amulet in "Sinbad: Legend of the Seven Seas."

Dreamworks's second foray into traditional animation has a lot in common with Disney's underrated "Treasure Planet" - flying ships, pirates, a funny dog, romance and a combination of hand drawn and computer generated animation (albeit not as successfully integrated). This lively adventure is an entertaining, colorful romp that will please kids while gifting parents with 'nudge-nudge, wink-wink' jokes.

Although some of the humor is a little too anachronistic ('Stand by for sushi!'), "Sinbad's" writers take impish glee sliding in subversive lines (Sinbad points a knife at his crotch and a sailor bursts from below decks shouting 'pickles and eggs!'). Sinbad's crew member Rat (Adriano Giannini) looks an awfully lot like Johnny Depp - a playful nod to Disney's "Pirates of the Caribbean" perhaps? The screenplay balances its modern touches with welcome old-fashioned banter between Pitt and Zeta Jones, who classically resist each other until Sinbad recognizes Marina as a sea-faring equal. A running joke finds Sinbad's crew betting in the background whenever his life hangs in the balance.

Pitt and Zeta-Jones give the right amount of playfulness to their vocal performances, while Fiennes attains a more courtly gravity. Pfeiffer is wonderful as the treacherous Eris, her voice as snakily sinuous as the wisps of smoke that trail and envelop her. Also good is Dennis Haysbert ("Far From Heaven") as Kale, Sinbad's stalwart, always unruffled first mate.

While the hand drawn animation is a bit flat, the CGI sparkles from the ocean Sinbad travels over to the etherealness of Eris and her constellation of minions. An island which turns animate is awesomely realized. An impromptu saucer ride down an icy cliff brings the audience along on the breathless ride. Harry Gregson-Williams's ("Shrek") score richly complements the adventurous tale.

"Sinbad: Legend of the Seven Seas" is a fine updating of a classic for a new generation.

B

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