Atlantis: The Lost Empire (2001)
This one is very strange! Watching it was a first for both of us and it is another one (perhaps even more so than The Emperor’s New Groove) which tends to get forgotten! For those that haven’t seen the film, it’s unsurprisingly about the search for Atlantis, but there is some pretty weird stuff that goes alongside this.
Milo a would-be explorer/academic/linguist/archaeologist (as usual in pop culture, academics can do everything!) joins a gang who are determined to find the lost city. Spoiler: we later find out the rest of gang are in it for monetary purposes.
There is some OK world building here. The bugs/creatures they see on the way to Atlantis, the steampunk/Jules Verne tech, and the look of the city itself are really cool. However, the real issue is that there is just too much going on. There are lots of good ideas, but also too much plot, so you are bombarded without having time to take it all in.
This starts with the opening sequence, where so much action is packed into about two minutes that we initially weren’t sure if Atlantis was being attacked by aliens or what was going on. ‘Maybe they’re going with alien invasion as the reason for Atlantis disappearing into the sea,’ we thought, ‘interesting twist.’ Later developments seemed to suggest this was not the case, though what actually did happen I am still somewhat fuzzy about.
The movie continued in this mystifying vein, never really bothering to explain anything, and finally culminating in the inexplicable appearance of some ‘iron giant’-looking chaps to protect the city at then end. This looked pretty spectacular, but again was completely unexplained! This is not to mention, the whole crystal consuming Kida and her mother element, which apparently provided the force of the city!? It was never clear whether the crystal was conscious or what the heck was going on. You definitely don’t need explanations for everything in movies (see my thoughts on the live action Beauty and the Beast for more on this ), but this felt like too many ideas. Children would certainly find it difficult to follow I think. I certainly did!
Because of the complicated plot, you don't get enough time to get to know the characters, who, when the film pauses for half a second, turn out to be really worth getting to know. The gang Milo goes in search of Atlantis with are an interesting diverse group and I wanted more time with them. Dr Joshua Sweet and Audrey Ramirez in particular are great characters. The Atlanteans, on the other hand, are less developed and only the heroine Kida gets a bit of a personality. I do like the fact that Michael J Fox is in this movie. He deserved a better film though! More Michael J Fox in Disney movies, please!
For me, ultimately, if you want an animation about the search for a lost city you are better sticking with The Road to Eldorado.
I’m glad we watched it, but won’t return in a hurry!
This one is very strange! Watching it was a first for both of us and it is another one (perhaps even more so than The Emperor’s New Groove) which tends to get forgotten! For those that haven’t seen the film, it’s unsurprisingly about the search for Atlantis, but there is some pretty weird stuff that goes alongside this.
Milo a would-be explorer/academic/linguist/archaeologist (as usual in pop culture, academics can do everything!) joins a gang who are determined to find the lost city. Spoiler: we later find out the rest of gang are in it for monetary purposes.
There is some OK world building here. The bugs/creatures they see on the way to Atlantis, the steampunk/Jules Verne tech, and the look of the city itself are really cool. However, the real issue is that there is just too much going on. There are lots of good ideas, but also too much plot, so you are bombarded without having time to take it all in.
This starts with the opening sequence, where so much action is packed into about two minutes that we initially weren’t sure if Atlantis was being attacked by aliens or what was going on. ‘Maybe they’re going with alien invasion as the reason for Atlantis disappearing into the sea,’ we thought, ‘interesting twist.’ Later developments seemed to suggest this was not the case, though what actually did happen I am still somewhat fuzzy about.
The movie continued in this mystifying vein, never really bothering to explain anything, and finally culminating in the inexplicable appearance of some ‘iron giant’-looking chaps to protect the city at then end. This looked pretty spectacular, but again was completely unexplained! This is not to mention, the whole crystal consuming Kida and her mother element, which apparently provided the force of the city!? It was never clear whether the crystal was conscious or what the heck was going on. You definitely don’t need explanations for everything in movies (see my thoughts on the live action Beauty and the Beast for more on this ), but this felt like too many ideas. Children would certainly find it difficult to follow I think. I certainly did!
Because of the complicated plot, you don't get enough time to get to know the characters, who, when the film pauses for half a second, turn out to be really worth getting to know. The gang Milo goes in search of Atlantis with are an interesting diverse group and I wanted more time with them. Dr Joshua Sweet and Audrey Ramirez in particular are great characters. The Atlanteans, on the other hand, are less developed and only the heroine Kida gets a bit of a personality. I do like the fact that Michael J Fox is in this movie. He deserved a better film though! More Michael J Fox in Disney movies, please!
For me, ultimately, if you want an animation about the search for a lost city you are better sticking with The Road to Eldorado.
I’m glad we watched it, but won’t return in a hurry!