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The Movie: In the last few years, computer animation has made leaps and bounds to the point where we're presented with smoothly digital characters in cartoons like "Shrek". The only problem is, has this spoiled audiences towards traditional animation? The only traditionally animated effort that I've been impressed by was Fox's "Titan A.E.", a "Star Wars"-ish feature that did a very nice job of combining CGI and Don Bluth's wonderful traditional animation. Disney's "Atlantis" does stick with the traditional animation, but jumps the usual "Disney" formula by dropping the animated "sidekicks" and usual Disney songs that populate their features. The result, coming from "Beauty and the Beast" animators Kirk Wise and Gary Trousdale, is a mixed affair, with some fairly exciting action sequences at the begining and the end, but really not a whole lot in the middle of it all. The film revolves around Milo Thatch(Michael J. Fox), a young lad who has always tried to prove that the lost city of Atlantis exists. His grandfather tried to find it, and now the mission is in his hands - if only he can convince anyone to believe him. An eccentric businessman offers him the means to get to where he thinks the lost city is and a crew to go with him, lead by a millitary officer played by James Garner, he's also followed by a demolitions expert, truck driver and others. Although Milo is supposedly smart, it takes him an awfully long time to figure out that the intentions of his fellow crew members are not for the best. After an exciting attack sequence with a monster who guards the opening to Atlanis, there's a suprisingly long journey before the group actually arrives there. Once there, the usual elements fall into place. Milo falls for the Princess of Atlanis, Princess Kida (Cree Summer), who is arguing with her father about the future of the colony. Where the film's trailer made "Atlantis" look like an action picture, there's a long stretch in the middle where the group is trying to find out the city's secret that really doesn't move along the way it should. It's all capped off with a pretty terrific action sequence that finishes things off. So, we're left with a film that looks fairly good for traditional animation, has a couple of decent action sequences and not a whole lot else. The actors providing the voices do a pretty respectable job, but the highlights of the group are Fox as Thatch and Don Novello, who gets all of the movie's best comedic lines. I appreciated the lack of the usual Disney accessories in the form of songs and sidekicks, but I was suprised that there was some considerable violence in the film - a couple of the younger children in the audience had to be taken out for a little while after being scared by some of the more intense sequences. It's an entertaining enough way to pass the time for 90 minutes out of a Summer day, but it certainly doesn't have the energy of some of the studio's recent fare like "Tarzan" and it's not nearly as entertaining as "Shrek". |