Daily Archives: June 15, 2001

Movie Reviews

Movie Review – Atlantis: The Lost Empire

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Atlantis: The Lost Empire

Directed by Gary Trousdale and Kirk Wise

Starring the voices of Michael J. Fox, James Garner, Claudia Christian, Cree Summer, Leonard Nimoy, Don Novello, Phil Morris, Jacquiline Obradors, Corey Burton, and John Mahoney.

 

I saw this film at Edmonton’s Gateway 8 cinema. It’s an early-80s style suburban multiplex, like the ones I was introduced to movies in. It reminded me a lot of Park Plaza 7, the Famous Players theater in Red Deer where my grandmother would take me to the latest Dinsey animated film every summer. It was there that I saw one of my favorite Disney animated films, The Black Cauldron, which became famous as Disney’s first attempt to break out of the standard Disney formula. So, it just makes sense that I was in such a similar theater to see Disney’s latest attempt to break out of said formula.

The year is 1914, and we meet with Milo Thatch (voice of Fox). He’s an expert on ancient languages, and he’s been trying to get the museum he works for to fund an expedition to Atlantis. Of course, the museum dismisses Thatch’s work as fantasy. Enter our Preston Whitmore (Mahoney). It seems that he was an old friend of Milo’s grandfather, the first Atlantis expert. Whitmore has come across the map to Atlantis, and is getting ready to fund the expedition. He wants Milo to join up. Of course Milo joins, and soon he’s off with a bunch of mercinaries, led by Captian Rourke (Garner) in a Nautilis-type submarine on their way to the lost continent. After peril after peril, they arrive, and find a thriving society. Or is it? Prinsess Kada (Summer) believes the Atlantean way of life to be dying, and perhaps these outsiders can help. Of course, though, Milo is on an expedition with a bunch of money-grubbing mercenaries, and soon the mercs break out the guns and seek to loot and plunder Atlantis. Can the Atlanteans stop the plunderers? Can Milo help Kada save Atlantis? It’s Disney, so I think you can figure it out.

This is a Disney movie, so, as always, the animation is top-of-the-line. But, maybe it’s just a bit better. Hey, if you’re going to set a movie at an undersea city, why not have the princess run around for the whole movie in a bikini? But I digress. The voice work is good, with Fox being a great nerd-turned-hero. And I’m glad to see that Disney is starting to use veteran voice actors like Cree Summer (the voice of Penny on Inspector Gadget) rather than feeling the need to fill every role with a celebrity. Disney ruled theaters with this brand of action film back in the 50s, with films like 20,000 Leagues Under The Sea and Treasure Island, but this animated version just didn’t seem to live up to those classics. This isn’t a great breakaway from the standard Disney formula, but it is a baby step in the right direction. As an action film, it was pretty good. I’d say it was about as good as The Mummy Returns. (Geez, what was it this summer with treasure-hunting adventure films?) And yes, like what one critic pointed out online, there are some similarities to Stargate. But I like Stargate. And I liked this. Still, though, it was no Black Cauldron. Maybe it’s just because Oma didn’t take me.

Oh, and in one little trivia note, this was the final film of Jim “Ernest” Varney, who gave voice to one of the mercenaries. The film is dedicated to him.

3 Nibs

Movie Reviews

Movie Review – Lara Croft: Tomb Raider

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Lara Croft: Tomb Raider

Directed by Simon West

Starring Angelina Jolie, Iain Glen, Daniel Craig, Noah Taylor, Chris Barrie, and Jon Voight.

FINALLY!!

This is the one summer blockbuster I was looking forward to all year. Imagine my horror, then, as day after day went by and I missed opportunity after opportunity to see it. Imagine my even greater horror when the reviews started coming in, and they weren’t that good. Imagine my complete and utter horror when even my friends said it wasn’t that good. Hopes were high for Tomb Raider. The track record for movies based on video games hasn’t been very good, but since Lara Croft had a well-developed back story, people were hoping that Tomb Raider would be the first great one. And now, a month and half after its release, I’d be able to see for myself.

We catch up with Lara Croft (Jolie) at home, and she’s feeling rather depressed. She’s between adventures right now, but besides that, it’s the anniversary of her father’s death. It’s coinciding with a rare planetary alignment that her father would have loved to have seen. Then, one night, Lara discovers an old artifact in a hidden room in her stately mansion. It’s a clock of some kind, and it’s ticking down to something. She’s pointed to an expert named Powell (Glen), who claims to know nothing about the clock. But, when the clock is stolen from her that night, an old letter from her father is delivered to her. The clock is the key to an artifact called the Clock of Ages, that has the ability to control time. Powell is with a secret society called the Illuminate, which needs the Clock of Ages for its own dark designs. The race is on then between Lara and Powell to find the two halves of the Clock, which were hidden at opposite ends of the Earth. Making things more dangerous is the fact that Powell has teamed up with Lara’s old rival, Alex West (Craig). Lara has her allies too, though: her faithful butler Hillary (Barrie), and her resident tech-head Bryce (Taylor). Who will find the two halves first, Croft or Powell? Or will the two even have to form an alliance to get it in time? And what’s the connection between the Illuminate and Lara’s father?

When I first heard that this movie was in development, my initial thought was “The best we can hope for is a lame Indiana Jones clone.” Guess what? It’s not that lame. Similarities to Indy are there, but since Indy established this genre 20 years ago, it can be forgiven. True, Indy did have the better plot and the better director, but that was because Spielberg and Lucas were behind the camera. This time around, we’ve got the director of Con Air. There were some odd things in the movie, like why did we have to show the giant CGI monsters in slow motion? No wonder someone told me about odd editing choices. It was a bit slow to start, but it did pick up about halfway through. And, if I may say so, it was a bit better than the similar Mummy Returns which also came out this summer. In the grand scheme, though, I don’t think it was worth the wait I endured. Essentially, it’s the opposite of Final Fantasy: I was expecting lame, but I got good.

3 Nibs