The Road to El Dorado
Directed by Bibo Bergeron, Will Finn, Don Paul, and David Silverman.
Starring the voices of Kevin Kline, Kenneth Branagh, Rosie Perez, Armand Assante, Edward James Olmos, Jim Cummings, and Frank Welker.
So, I’m working now, and I figure what better way to celebrate my employment than to go see a movie? I’m sure you all know of my love for all things animated, so I went off to see The Road To El Dorado! Dreamwork’s first animated effort, Prince Of Egypt, was pretty good, so I wanted to see what they could for their second time out.
As always, here is our plot. We start off in Spain, during the time of the conquistadors. Cortez (voice of Cummings) is mountaining his latest expedition. Enter two con-men, Miguel and Tulio (voices of Branagh and Kline, respectivley). They just happen to get their hands on a map to the fabled El Dorado, the City Of Gold. So, they accidentally stow away on Cortez’s ship, and after a daring escape with the help of a horse (Welker), and some voyages through the jungle, they wind up in the paradise that is El Dorado. Here, they are mistaken for gods, and as such, get caught in the middle of a power struggle between the chief (Olmos) and high priest, Tzekel-Kan (Assante). So, they decide to play both ends against the middle, with the help of local girl Chel (Perez), who wants in on the scam. How long can they keep up the charade? Or will they get caught up in it all, and stay in paradise?
While no Iron Giant, this is a pretty good little animated film. I found it to be quite funny. The songs, written by Elton John, are OK. Nothing really memorable. This is a musical the way that Tarzan was: all the songs are sung in the background. The animation is wonderful, with Dreamworks once again showing off that they want to give Disney a run for their money. And some of the humor is a little more grown-up than Disney fair. (Tulio and Chel do it, for example.) While I don’t think that this is destined to be a classic, it’s not too bad. Go see it if you want a pleasing way to kill an afternoon.