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Thu. Jun. 21, 2001
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Art & Culture > Movie &Theatre > Archive
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Movie Review: Atlantis - The Lost Empire (Disney - 2001)
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CAST
Milo Thatch... Michael J. Fox
Princess Kida... Cree Summer
Captain Lyle Rourke... James Garner
Dr. Joshua Sweet... Phil Morris
Helga Sinclair... Claudia Christian
King Nedakh... Leonard Nimoy
Tales of lost cities have long intrigued humans, becoming the things of folklore, novels, plays and movies. From the fabled golden city of El Dorado, to the mystical paradise of Shangri La, to the actual lost city of the Incas, Machu Pichu, places of mystery and wonder have always drawn human interest. In 360 B.C.E. Plato described one such fantastic land, Atlantis. According to his account "in a single day and night of misfortune...the island of Atlantis disappeared into the depths of the sea," thus extinguishing a civilization of great social and technological advancement. Since Plato, scientists and common daydreamers alike have pondered the veracity of Plato's story.
This summer, Disney continues the search for the sunken city with its animated release Atlantis: The Lost City. A fanciful tale set in 1914, Atlantis follows the escapades of Milo Thatch (Michael J. Fox), a clumsy, nerdish, young professor of cartography and linguistics at a museum in Washington, D.C. The grandson of a famous explorer, Milo spent his childhood hearing tales of the lost city…tales that lead him to take up his grandfather's quest.
When museum financiers reject Milo's proposal for an expedition to search for Atlantis, he is approached by the elderly and wealthy, Preston Whitmore, an old friend of his grandfather's who has been intently watching Milo's career progress. To Milo's surprise, Whitmore has already organized an expedition to Atlantis, complete with a team of experts to assist Milo and a submarine stolen straight from the mind of Jules Verne. So in one full swoop, Milo is off to fulfill his dream.
Unfortunately for Milo, things are not quite what he expected. Instead of the team being there to assist him, he finds that he is there to assist the team through his expert knowledge of the long-forgotten Atlantean language. Thus Milo is forced into a subordinate role, with Lyle Rourke (James Garner), the boat's captain, and his crew taking charge. And what a motley crew it is.
It seems that with Atlantis, Disney has tried to bring to the fore a new sense of diversity in animated features by creating a primary cast of characters that includes ethnic groups one might not expect to see on a scientific voyage circa 1914. There is the well-spoken, extrovert doctor, Joshua Sweet, who is Black and Native American; the female mechanic, Audrey Ramirez, who is Hispanic; Wilhelmina Packard, the boats communications officer, who is conspicuous by her age; and a host of others who are noted for their nationalities and experiences.
The animated ensemble engages Milo on different levels on various topics, and provides the audience with a richer understanding of character than one might expect from a cartoon.
Together, Milo and the crew brave the ocean depths, battle sea monsters, and eventually find their way to an ocean-floor entrance to Atlantis. The city is indeed spectacular, as it is situated across a chasm on a plateau that is a huge, perpetual waterfall. Before crossing over to the city, the adventurers are met by the curious native Atlanteans, who by some linguistic miracle are able to understand all languages and therefore begin conversing in English after a few tense moments of introduction.
It is at this moment that the audience is introduced to Princess Kida (Cree Summer), heir to the throne of Atlantis. As has been the case in several Disney animated films, animators chose to, how shall we say…accentuate her female beauty. In other words, Kida is an attractive young woman who isn't wearing much.
A spunky strong female character, Kida leads the party into the city and introduces them to her father King Nedakh (Leonard Nimoy). Wary of outsiders, the old king asks the adventurers to leave, which they agree to do after a night's rest.
At this point, Milo sneaks off with Kida to query her about the power-source that sustains Atlantis. To his surprise however, Kida asks the same of him, for over the centuries, the Atlanteans have become illiterate and cannot read their own scrolls and tablets that explain their history. So Milo and Kida embark on an underwater adventure to try to figure out some of Atlantis' secrets before he is forced to leave.
But as luck would have it, no good deed goes unpunished; and when Milo and Kida surface, they are met on shore by Milo's adventure seeking cohorts, who have ominously armed themselves with rifles and other weapons. Against Milo's protestations, Rourke and his crew take Kida captive and force Milo to decipher the city's runes and lead the party to Atlantis' power source, which Rourke plans to steal for profit.
The power source is more than anyone bargained for however. As they approach it, Kida is drawn up into a blinding light and transformed into a zombie-like being. This doesn't stop Rourke, though, who boxes her up and prepares to take her to the surface. Before Rourke gets very far though, several members of his party have a crisis of conscience and decide to remain stranded in Atlantis with Milo.
Milo, the unlikely hero that he is, rallies his new-found-compatriots and gives Rourke chase. A battle ensues, Kida is freed, Rourke meets an ugly demise, and all's well that ends well -- it is, after all, a Disney movie.
In general the film isn't too bad, although it is not quite the children's film one might expect. The MPAA rating of PG is justified because of the violence; but beyond that there is quite a bit of dialogue that will be lost on not only kids, but on adults who don't know much about the world in the early 1900s.
The biggest concern Muslims should have in evaluating the film, is the manner in which female characters are portrayed. The female Atlanteans are all rather scantily clad, and in one instance, Kida strips down to the equivalent of a bikini in a scene written to emphasize the attraction Milo has for her. Additionally, the character of Helga was also written to emphasize her womanly wiles, and she is often shown in off-the-shoulder attire. Is there so much of this content in the film that Muslims would want to stay away from it? Probably not. But there are some places viewers should be aware of, and the IOL AVERT YOU EYES AND EARS monitor suggests being on the lookout for the following:
1) 7:50 -- Helga shows up slinking around in a suggestive, almost seductive manner
2) 14:18 -- There is language that extols the consumption of bacon, whiskey and lard
3) 19:29 -- A character talks of drinking wine
4) 31:40 -- Flatulence humor (kids will find it hilarious, parents might not)
5) 34:40 -- Ms. Packard notes that she sleeps in the nude
6) 48:00 -- There is polytheistic language used with reference to "the gods" of Atlantis
7) 54:20 -- Kida strips to her bikini -- WARNING
8) 1:01:05 -- Kida prostrates before her ancestors/gods
9) 1:18:10 -- Helga meets a rather cruel and ruthless demise at the hands of Rourke
10) 1:18:10 -- Rourke meets an ugly end
11) 1:23:20 -- Kida and Milo hug and hold hands
To be realistic, the movie is tame by adult standards, but as can be seen from the warnings above, parents and those preferring a more conservative standard of entertainment might want to be wary.
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