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All-Reviews.com Movie/Video Review
Atlantis: The Lost Empire
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  out of 4
Review by Steve Rhodes
2 stars out of 4
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Disney's ATLANTIS: THE LOST EMPIRE mindlessly follows an animated formula so
old that it creaks. A rag-tag group of eccentrics, led by a self-described
"adventure capitalist," Commander Lyle T. Rourke (James Garner), is out to
find and plunder the riches of the lost continent of Atlantis. Occupying
the high moral ground, Michael J. Fox plays Milo Thatch, a museum
cartographer and linguist who wants to locate Atlantis for all the right
scientific reasons. Once there, Milo finds a babe in a bikini, Princess
Kidagakash "Kida" (Cree Summer), who is a couple of thousand years old, but
doesn't look more than 20.
The movie's exterior sequences dazzle with sweeping grandeur, but the
interior ones are as flat as the story's lifeless, silly dialog. "Melt the
butter and bring out the bibs," Commander Rourke barks to his crew. "I want
this monster served up on a silver platter." The crew includes one guy who
likes to blow holes in things, one who likes to drill holes and one old
codger who has holes in his head. They all look act like tired veterans of
a hundred Saturday morning cartoons. Where is the imagination and humor
that Disney put into TARZAN? It had more to offer in five minutes than
ATLANTIS does in a long hour and a half. And ATLANTIS really pales in
comparison to Dreamworks' SHREK. Long sections of ATLANTIS could put those
under thirteen to sleep.
Sometimes it is the funniest joke in a disappointing movie that best defines
the film's limitations. The old guy in ATLANTIS has a tattoo of the United
States on his chest. In order to impress a girl, he brags, "Watch me make
Rhode Island dance," as he wiggles his tummy. That's as good as ATLANTIS
ever gets.
ATLANTIS: THE LOST EMPIRE runs 1:33. It is rated PG for action violence and
would be acceptable for any kid of any age.
My son Jeffrey, age 12, gave the film ***, saying that it was "good but
wasn't that funny." His friends, Rajiv, Maxim and Sam, all 12, gave the
picture ****, saying that it was creative and had a good plot.
Copyright © 2001 Steve Rhodes
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