Disney Month III- Atlantis: The Lost Empire

Atlantis: The Lost Empire (2001)
Starring: Michael J. Fox, James Garner, Dom Novello
Directed by: Gary Trousdale and Kirk Wise


Plot Summary: Cartographer and linguist Milo Thatch has been desperately trying to get an expedition team to recover The Shepard's Journal so he can discover the lost city of Atlantis. With his proposal rejected by the museum he works at, Milo returns home to find that he has been summoned by Preston Whitmore, a wealthy colleague of Milo's grandfather, who has found the journal and recruits Milo to join the expedition team and decipher the journal. Milo boards the Ulysses and meets some of the top specialists hired for the mission, until the ship is attacked by the legendary Leviathan. Milo and his crew travel through an underground cavern described in the journal and find Atlantis. Milo befriends the Princess of Atlantis Kida, as they work together to try and rediscover the roots of the lost city. However, when plans change with the expedition, Milo must figure out a way to save the city he has spent his entire life trying to find.


Call it a need to fit similar themes to my previous reviews, but watching Pocahontas really made me feel like the obvious follow up would be Atlantis: The Lost Empire. I guess it's something to do with visiting strange and foreign lands, villains motivated by greed, and side characters that are way more interesting than the two leads. However, Atlantis certainly tried to be more centered for adults by including a bunch of high-explosive action scenes, in a sort of an Indiana Jones meets Journey to the Center of the Earth type of film all wrapped up in the Disney brand of animation. That sounds like a fantastic idea, yet the film wasn't as big a success as the studio would have liked, to the point where they scrapped an eventual TV series that would take place after the events of the film. So, let's look see what went wrong with a Disney film that actually had a lot of promise in its concept.

Our main hero is the brainy Milo Thatch. He's nerdy, awkward, and voiced by Michael J. Fox. That's really all I need to be invested in Milo, but I wish there was more. Granted, he becomes more brave as the film progresses, but a lot of what he's doing you've seen before from other smart characters in movies and TV, so it's nothing new here. And come on, would it have killed them to have Michael J. Fox say something that Doc Brown would say? How awesome would that be? Talk about a fun homage.

The strongest point in the film is actually in the side characters. They're just so enjoyable and the ones that stand out the most actually get a lot of development, back story, and actually serve a purpose to the mission. Fan favorites include Mole and Vinny, voiced by Corey Burton and Dom Novello, thanks to the amount of humor they bring, but my personal favorite is Dr. Joshua Sweet, voiced by Phil Morris. From the get go, he's just a good character. He's charming, funny, has a strong knowledge of medicine, and is one of the first crew members to truly befriend Milo on the expedition. These characters really made me wish the film was a success so we could get the TV show. I would have definitely watched the show just to see them on a weekly basis.

But now, we get to the bad characters. Really, it's only the villains. I don't even need to say who they are. Watch the film and I'll bet you can spot the villain reveal a mile away. It's painfully obvious and their motivations are even more so, so that really drags down the film to an eye-rolling level.

When they get to Atlantis, they meet Kida, voiced by Cree Summers, and the Atlantean culture. This is where the film gets interesting. The animation and depiction of the culture has a very unique and engaging look to it, but then the film goes in a story direction that is a bit confusing to follow. The most famous scene from the film strongly enforces this claim, as Kida walks into a light, rises from the ground, and becomes the power source for Atlantis. I think? I'm not sure, all I know is that it looks amazing, but is very strange to follow.

With the great side characters, interesting animation style, and action sequences, it's hard to see that Atlantis: The Lost Empire wasn't a major success. You'd imagine it would, but really think about it. An action-packed, science-fiction movie...from DISNEY. There lies the issue. It tries to be a bit more serious than your usual Disney movie and accomplishes that in many ways, but then creeps back to your traditional, child-friendly formula that most Disney movies are known for. If it had been a bit more adventurous and risky in its approach, it would've reached that bigger picture potential and really could've been groundbreaking stuff for the house of mouse to put out in the new millennium. Instead, we have a lather, rinse, repeat film from Disney that would probably push you in the direction of other, more memorable animated films.


Rating: 2.5 out of 5 stars

Atlantis: The Lost Empire is a tough nut to crack. While it can be very formulaic in its story and many of the themes (especially the motives of the villains), it does excel in many other aspects like the side characters, the action scenes, and the animation style of the Atlantean culture. If you're looking for a fun family adventure with memorable characters, this is a suitable candidate to check out via Netflix or Redbox.

Atlantis: The Lost Empire and movie images are copyrighted by Walt Disney Pictures