Atlantis: The Lost Empire

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

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.

"Atlantis" is a new and right step for a Disney feature. It's a good choice to make a film by such a mysterious legend like "Atlantis". I didn't have any expectations for this film, but after watching it, I don't quite understand why this film got so bad reviews. Even in my country the reviewers weren't positive.

"Atlantis" is not a perfect movie, but still one of Disney's greatest, even I doubt that this film ever will get "Disney classic" reputation. Well, that's another case. It's funny to think that this sci-fi movie was directed by the same directors as "Beauty and the Beast" and "Hunchback" (so Kirk Wise and Gary Trousdale are trying to get away from their monster movies reputation, he he, I'm just kidding).

Well, enough nonsense. "Atlantis" is a watchable, exiting and very enjoyable film. Even this film it's a PG-rated action-feature, it's also suitable for kids, in my opinion (parents who mean the opposite, don't kill me for writing this, he he).

The story is a little predictable, but it doesn't ruin the movie. The comic book-inspired animation it's suitable for the film and set's a departure from the usual Disney-style. It's colorful, dark and detailed. The Deep Canvas sequences are pretty impressive. The film is also funny sometimes, even I more giggled than laugh through the movie. (SPOILERS) The characters of this film are also very likable, but unfortunately there isn't enough screen time to get to know everybody, so some characters are left behind (SPOILERS).

The score of James Newton Howard is absolutely great. It's daring and exotic. (SPOILER) The most impressive about this film is how they're making the Atlantean language sound very natural, ethnic and authentic. It's really awesome (SPOILERS OVER)

The script is tight and well-written, but still the there are some questions left unanswered in the story. But luckily there are not so much of them.

So do you're self a favor, don't listen to the reviewers and watch "Atlantis", cause it's waiting for you...

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!

From the animation to the side characters, Atlantis is a surprisingly awesome Disney movie. It's got action, and funny jokes, and everything you could want in an action-adventure movie. Highly recommend this one.