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Movie Title: Atlantis: The Lost Empire Review: Hear ye, hear ye. Let it go out that from this day forward Atlantis is no longer lost. It appears that Disney was able to find the lost empire and film it just in time for the summer movie season. But seriously folks (where have I heard that before), Atlantis: The Lost Empire is Disney’s latest animated film, but thankfully less musically inclined than previous Disney films like The Lion King, Aladdin, etc. Atlantis is also the competition for DreamWorks’ Shrek, though I don’t think it is much of a box office threat to Shrek. Now I’m not saying Atlantis is bad, just not nearly as good (or funny) as Shrek (which as many have pointed out, Disney had first shot at Shrek and passed, oops). Atlantis is really a story about Milo Thatch (Michael J. Fox) with Atlantis used merely as the backdrop. Milo is a low level employee at The Smithsonian where his famous grandfather used to work (and eventually lost his reputation). He basically works keeping the boiler working while trying to convince the big wigs to fund his proposals concerning searches for Atlantis. Well those big wigs don’t take him seriously, but an old friend of Milo’s grandfather, Preston B. Whitmore (John Mahoney), does take him seriously and sets up an expedition. In fact he is one step ahead of Milo since he has already retrieved the “Shepard’s Book” and is ready to find The Lost Empire. So off Milo goes with a huge expedition in the early 1900s before WWI with only the best people money can buy (because Whitmore is out to make money off the thing) to discover Atlantis. The crew is lead by Commander Lyle Tiberius Rourke (James Garner), a big hero like character, but he also seems a little evil. Others in the crew are Mole (Corey Burton) the digging expert, Vinny (Don Novello) the explosives guy, Sweet (Phil Morris) the doctor, Cookie (Jim Varney) the cook, Audrey (Jacqueline Obradors) the mechanic, and Helga (Claudia Christian) the second in command. After a long and arduous journey under the sea, only a couple dozen or so make it to the famed lost city of Atlantis, where they are surprised to find people still living. This complicates things for some members of the crew who were onboard so that they could get rich plundering the city and selling its famed energy source. It doesn’t complicate things for Commander Rourke though. Meanwhile Milo is falling for Princess Kida (Cree Summer) while learning all about this lost civilization. Will the evil Rourke succeed? Will Milo save Atlantis? Will poop ever be used as an energy source? Stay tuned and none of these questions will be answered, however you will receive a rating if you keep reading. Tab Murphy wrote the film, which is directed by Kirk Wise and Gary Trousdale. The remaining cast includes Florence Stanley, David Ogden Stiers, and Spock or is it Leonard Nimoy as the king of Atlantis. The animation in this film is typical of the genre, the acting adequate, and the story ok. There is some humor and some tension here and there, but overall I just didn’t get a good warm and fuzzy feeling about Atlantis as one might get from many other animated tales. So in conclusion, not a bad film by any means, but certainly not a great film. As such I give Atlantis six couches out of ten for the About-Movies.com rating. Buuu bye. |