Atlantis: The Lost Empire (2001)

Adventure in the Area Between Disney and Beyond Disney

OK, first thing's first. Parents should be aware that this is a PG Disney outing. It seemed that they were really trying to earn their way in to the PG realm with this one. There are light displays of female sexiness. Some people whom you never know by name do blow up in ships. One character actually (gasp!) smokes a cigarette throughout the movie. Punches and kicks visibly land. There's even a bit of blood. So know what you're getting into.

That said, I'm going to predict that Atlantis: The Lost Empire is going to end up more like the "Final Fantasy" games than the upcoming movie Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within will. The trailer for that movie hints at an outer-space-and-aliens type of plot that seems to have nothing to do with the mainstays of that popular line of video games: crystals, an endearing team of diverse good guys, fantastic modes of transport through land, sea, and air, and a sense of adventure that overshadows any real sense of fear. Atlantis has these things, uses them in a well-worn formula, and emerges as fun escapist fare.

At the heart of almost any Disney movie is the main character who doesn't belong. This time it's Milo Thatch (voice of Michael J. Fox), a skinny and enthusiastic nerd. It's 1914, and he is determined to continue the quest that his dearly-departed grandfather began: to find the lost city of Atlantis, the legendary city that sank into the depths of the sea. When his benefactors at the museum refuse to fund an exploration, he is recruited by an old colleague of his grandfather, Preston Whitmore (voice of John Mahoney), to head an expedition to find the city. Thatch, who is the only one who can translate a book of clues on the whereabouts of the lost city, is joined by a large cast of characters, all experts in one field or another that could prove useful on this trip: a medical officer, a demolitions man, an engine mechanic, an excavation expert, an expedition commander, etc. Before they know it, they get what they bargained for and more as they make their way to a land buried under the ocean, with danger around every corner.

What pulls this movie through is the sense of adventure that remains present during the course of most of the movie. It is the stuff of tales told in the past of discoveries of awe and wonder. It incorporates the excitement of finding one's self in a strange new land and using resourcefulness to continue on. It carries with it the spirit of those old science fiction stories like "Jouney to the Center of the Earth." Its style is very distinct and often feels like the old comic strip adventures of the '30's and '40's, like "Flash Gordon" and "Tarzan," with very distinct and angular designs and drawings for each of the characters. I liked the feel of the movie; it felt like something that the storytellers of the past were skilled in recreating: a true fantasy sci-fi adventure.

Little things here and there did get in the way, though, and most of it are glaring pieces of evidence of the Disney formula. There are bits of modern-tone humor littered about, naturally. The main character, Milo, was very much in the tradition of the faultless Disney hero/heroine who only wants to do what's right and feel accepted. In the ending sequences, action takes precedence as the sense of adventure starts to wane, leading to a typical chaotic good vs. evil battle. These things aren't large faults by any measure. I just felt that perhaps Disney could've bucked their formula just a little more in order to fully dedicate themselves to the prospect of true adventure without the usual tried-and-true touches. In the end, you know how everything will end up being in the movie, and predictbility is always the greatest enemy of adventure.

Still, it's hard to get mad at them for this. After all, this was Disney's first real attempt at breaking their own mold without totally alienating their usual audience. It was a delicate balancing act to be sure. Gone are the musical numbers. There is no pure comic relief sidekick whose repartee with the main character lightens him up. And, to re-iterate, there are deaths, cigarettes, and mild acts of violence. They only made sure to keep out the swear words. Yet somehow this still all fit in to Disney's formula of the alienated hero battling to preserve an innocent people from the clutches of greed and selfishness.

In the end, it would take a bigger sacrifice of their original family-oriented standards in order to make a movie that was truly strong enough to encompass the vision of a bold adventure. Until the time Disney decides to be so daring, we will have Atlantis. It's a thrilling fantasy that does its job with the usual professional production values one can expect from the animated feature makers at Disney.

Rating: 8/10

©Jeffrey Chen, Jun. 22, 2001

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