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Atlantis - The Lost Empire speeds along at a very brisk pace throughout much of the movie, slowing briefly in the middle to help develop the story and define the characters. It is a visually stunning film that really needs to be seen on the big screen to fully appreciate all of the visuals. The first Disney animated feature to be shown in 70mm since The Black Cauldron in 1985, the film pops with incredible vistas, bright colors of blue-white and red, and a highly stylized vehicle and character design. The soundtrack by James Howard Newton was well done and set the mood for what was happening on screen.
The movie is truly fast-paced with lots of action and destruction, including death. There are a number of scenes of life-like violence including images of blood and a couple of instances of mild sexuality. This movie truly earns its PG rating though it is no worse than recent Disney movies such as Tarzan or The Lion King.
But the movie isn't all tense confrontation. Atlantis is truly funny, even without the typical Disney pet or sidekick. There are subtle jokes that will truly make you laugh out loud and some very memorable quotes. The vocal characterizations were fantastic up and down the roster with a cast of film and television performers including Michael J. Fox as Milo, James Garner as Commander Rourke, Leonard Nimoy as Atlantis' king, Jim Varney, in his final role, as Cookie, among others.
And yet as great as these characterizations were, a slight deficiency to the film is that there were too many characters in such a short, action-packed movie. It was hard to grow attached to any of the characters except perhaps Milo and you never truly rooted for them if they had hit you on a more emotional level. They are some fun characters but just don't seem fully developed during the film. It also seemed to smack you in the face that the entire crew was made up of persons from multiple ethnic and racial backgrounds though this is explained because they are supposed to be the "best of the best." It still seemed somewhat like sanitized political correctness, especially considering that the film was set in 1914.
Since this is supposed to be an action-adventure movie, there isn't much of a love story developed between Milo and Kida. They do seem mutually attracted to one other because of their fascination with each being from a different world. And this love serves as a catalyst for advancing the story by means of providing a motivation for certain actions taken. It wasn't needed but didn't detract from the story either.
Being an action movie, it was somewhat surprising to find a few truly touching moments in the film. The scene where Milo bonds with his crewmates has some sweet moments. The memories of Milo's grandfather by Milo and others resonate great feeling. And Sweet's lighting of a candle in honor of fallen comrades after the attack by the Leviathan was also an understated, moving scene. Look for more little bits of great humanity when you watch.
Overall, Atlantis - The Lost Empire is a fast-paced, action-packed movie that displays great visuals and a nice musical score. There are enough surprises to keep the story interesting and appealing. It deviates from the standard Disney formula but that is not necessarily a bad thing. Parents should be cautioned when taking young children to this movie, though much of the violence is nothing worse than what kids can see on television in the afternoon. It will appeal most to sci-fi fans, comic book collectors, pre-adolescent boys and Disney animation fans that are open to something new and different. It is not the best Disney animated feature of all times but has enough good things going for it that it can be easily considered a real winner.
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