June
8, 2001 | The thin line between boisterous fun and games and bombastic
sound and fury is repeatedly crossed, and frequently smudged, during
Atlantis: The Lost Empire, the latest animated feature from Walt
Disney Productions.
Give
this much to the creative folks at the Mouse Factory: After years of
generating a steady cash flow from formulaic musical-comedy cartoons,
they're trying their darnedest to diversify their product line. After
scoring with computer-generated animation (Toy Story, Dinosaur)
and Loony-Tuney flavored high jinks (The Emperor's New Groove),
they've hit upon the novel notion -well, OK, novel for Disney - of mounting
a lavishly detailed widescreen epic that tells a straight-ahead fantasy-adventure
story without relying on original songs, precocious kids or cuddly,
chattering animals.
Instead
of taking their cues from the conventions established by Uncle Walt,
co-directors Gary Trousdale and Kirk Wise and screenwriter Tab Murphy
have concocted an eclectic mix of classic pulp fiction (heavy on the
Edgar Rice Burroughs, with a side order of H. Rider Haggard), Japanese
anime razzle-dazzle, nondenominational mysticism (think Edgar Cayce
by way of Lost Horizon) and graphic-novel conceptualization.
All this, plus great big hunks of Jules Verne. Specifically, Verne's
20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, which, not so coincidentally, the
Disney studio filmed as a live-action feature back in 1954.
Instead
of journeying aboard the Nautilus with Captain Nemo, the adventurers
in Atlantis set out in a state-of-the-art submarine known as
the Ulysses. Mind you, state-of-the-art is a relative term here, since
the movie is supposed to be set in 1914. But, then again, 1914 is a
relative date as well, judging from the anachronistic technology that
becomes increasingly evident as the story progresses. (Hey, it's a fantasy
adventure, remember?)
The
Ulysses expedition is launched to find the fabled lost city of Atlantis,
and funded by an eccentric billionaire, Preston B. Whitmore (voiced
by John Mahoney), who's obviously a pioneer in the field of equal-opportunity
employment. In addition to hiring Commander Rourke (James Garner), a
cunning mercenary, to lead the mission, Whitmore also employs such colorful
characters as Helga (Claudia Christian), a tough-chick second-in-command;
Vinny (Don Novello), a dryly witty Italian explosives expert; Dr. Sweet
(Phil Morris), a hunky African-American physician; and Audrey (Jacqueline
Obradors), a Latina mechanic.
But
the true hero of the piece is Milo James Thatch (Michael J. Fox), a
callow cartographer and linguist who's along for the ride primarily
because his late grandfather was an expert in all things Atlantean.
Thatch provides invaluable interpretive services when Team Ulysses finds
a subterranean route to the long-lost empire. Just as important, Thatch
also helps to rally the blue-hued, gentle-spirited natives - including
the beautiful Princess Kida (Cree Summer), daughter of the ancient city's
ailing King (Leonard Nimoy) - when Rourke and Hegla try to snatch the
magical crystals that provide energy and enlightenment for the Atlanteans.
Atlantis
isn't quite a complete break from the traditions of classic Disney animated
features. Many of the lead characters - including Milo, who looks like
a slightly more grown-up version of John, the bespectacled lost boy
of Peter Pan - could have jumped right out of Uncle Walt's inkwell.
And a few of the minor characters, including a crusty cook (the late
Jim Varney) and the aptly named Mole (Corey Burton) are so broadly rendered,
they might as well be anthropomorphized forest critters.
But
never mind: The real problem here isn't the residue of movies past.
What makes Atlantis something less than an unalloyed delight
is the overwhelming and ultimately overbearing busyness of the movie.
This is especially true in the last half hour or so, when there is so
much going on, and the widescreen frames are cluttered with so much
material, that Atlantis plays like an unpleasantly revved-up
rollercoaster ride, or an overly caffeinated retread of Raiders of
the Lost Ark.
I
know it may sound odd, and more than a little ungrateful, to complain
there's too much activity in an action film, especially when it's an
animated action film. But Atlantis feels like the work
of people who didn't entirely trust the magic of their narrative or
the wonder of their imagery, and who felt obliged to pelt you with everything
but the kitchen sink while you experience sensory overload. They appear
to have forgotten that, when extended so long, so relentlessly, even
a rollercoaster ride can be more exhausting than exhilarating.
By
the way: Parents, take heed of the PG rating. Some of this stuff may
very well be too intense for very small children. And for quite a few
adults