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Consider me a (minor) member of the cult for this film. Atlantis: The Lost Empire is something completely different visually and story-wise from Disney, the studio that typically traffics in personality deficient princesses and cutesy anthropomorphic adventures filled with singing, dancing and homogenized romance. I find it enjoyable and enjoy that it dares to be different, but the film is still riddled with problems.
The most striking thing about Atlantis is how it looks. Borrowed heavily from the drawing style of comic book artist Mike Mignola, the film is made up of sharp angles and blocky figures. The look evokes something of Fleischer’s Superman, Jack Kirby’s expressive angularity and steam-punk creativity, so we’re halfway there in crafting a wholly engrossing animated film. The thing looks absolutely wondrous and unique.
The narrative plays fast with pulp conventions, giving us steam-punk submarines, ancient civilizations, incredible power sources, and characters defined more by broad types than real personalities. As a fan of science fiction, I would be happy watching an animated series about this world, or a series of well-done sequels. There’s tremendous potential for expansion here, yet the film speeds through several of the more interesting events and character development potentials to craft rousing action sequences.
While the quick pace saves us from putting off finding the mythical city until too late in the film for anyone to care, this same rapid-fire propulsion through the narrative leaves us with half-formed characters and thinly plotted motivations. The United Colors of Benetton crew feels like lip service to creating diversity since none of them are given more than a gimmick which defines them. I could have easily done without the French mole-man character and used that time to explore of the Atlantian king’s back story, he seemed far more interesting than the quick exit he’s dealt in the film.
It also seems skimpy for the filmmakers to have created an entirely new language for the characters to speak and then jettison it once we discover that Atlantis was a multi-cultural world that somehow knows modern American English. I guess they were too chicken to force little kids to read subtitles. Somewhat understandable, I suppose, as the film is clearly playing for an older audience than the typical all-ages product they produce.
No matter, because while the script and development of the characters may be lacking, the action sequences are first rate, especially the third act which is just one action sequence after another. The Leviathan attack is beautifully animated, incredibly thrilling, and manages to take out a vast array of static characters in very quick succession. The explorer group goes from a few hundred characters to a small handful and a large group of armed guards. They really pulled no punches in detailing the dangers and consequences in that sequence.
It helps to have a game vocal cast. The only big names are Michael J. Fox, Leonard Nimoy and James Garner, who turn in performances that are both committed and playful. Fox seems perfectly suited to Milo’s nebbish yet tough character, and Garner gets too go full on deliciously crazy as the film’s surprise villain. The studio wisely uses Garner’s built-in goodwill and history of action films to trick the audience. Nimoy doesn’t get much to do, but he has one of the great voices for an animated film. I really wish the writers gave him more to do and play with as his brief time is quite appealing. An ensemble of well-known voice actors fills out the rest of the cast, which is a smart move from Disney as recent years found indifferent vocal work coming from big name movie stars really harmed their final products. Their voices have appeared in practically every TV show, video game and movie over the past twenty or so years.
While Atlantis: The Lost Empire may be imperfect, at least it gave Disney the chance to go full-out with a Jules Verne-like pulp science fiction adventure story. The studio takes to this format quite well. I wonder if this had been a hit, either critically or commercially, if Disney would have produced more science-fiction epics? The ultimate failure of this, and Treasure Planet a few years later, caused the studio to stick with what works, which explains the upswing in princess movies as of late.
