Atlantis: The Lost Empire (2001) Review

“We’re all gonna die”

THE FOLLOWING REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS OF THE DISCUSSED FILM. READERS DISCRETION IS ADVISED.

We all know there are things left out in the world that hasn’t been seen. So when we choose to find the unknown, the big question will be if it was worth reaching it.


PLOT


Atlantis: The Lost Empire takes place in 1914 and follows linguist Milo Thatch who aspires to find the titular lost city said to have sunk thousands of years ago. Based on his research, he believes the Shepherd's Journal, which was last seen in Iceland, could direct him to where the city could be and his motive to find it is to study their power source and how the Atlanteans have survived for so long. His employers at the Smithsonian Institute don't give him a chance, but the only one is millionaire Preston Whitmore, who was not only a close friend to his grandpa Thaddeus, but has recently found the Journal. He meets Milo wanting to respect an old bet that if his grandpa had found the journal, he would finance the expedition. He has already arranged a crew he deemed appropriate for the job and only needs the linguist to lead the way. Milo agrees and joins all that board the advanced submarine, the Ulysses: commanding officer Commander Roarke, Lieutenant Helga Sinclair, chief medic Joshua Sweet, demolitions expert Vincenzo Santorini aka Vinny, geologist Gaeton Moliere aka Mole, teenage mechanic Audrey Ramirez, elderly cook Jebidiah Farnsworth aka Cookie and elderly radio operator Wihelmina Packard. As the Ulysses swims through the ocean, Milo explains that they'll have to get to an air pokcet in order to find the city on foot. This becomes reality after surviving an attack from a mechanical beast dubbed the Leviathan. Many casualties occurred, but the main resources are alive to continue the voyage. As Thatch guides the way with the journal, they stop at one point near a bridge and as he bonds with the others, he notices there must be a missing page when trying to understand Atlantis' power source. In said bond, most of them share the financial benefit of the voyage. While Packard is grateful to be paid and Sweet shares his medicine practice originated from Araphao where his mom lived, Audrey hopes to open a second mechanic shop with her dad and Vinny hopes to open new flower shops with his family; Mole's personal obsession with dirt is left unsaid which Sweet recommends to not get into as it leaves him severely bothered. As the night progresses, Milo tries to use the bathroom until accidentally starting a fire when attacked by a flock of fireflies. As he alerts the group, they try to cross the bridge but all their weight breaks it and causes them to fall with it. Most of them survive the collapse, but Mole discovers they're on the bowels of a dormant volcano that can only be awoken by a powerful force. Thatch does get separated and does reunite with the others only after having his injuries healed by Princess Kidagakash. When they find him, he is able to mediate betweeKin both sides and confirm they come in peace. Earning Kida's trust, she takes them to her father, King Kashekim who quickly chooses to not trust him, but gives Thatch's group one night to recuperate before returning to the surface world. Until then, Milo chooses to bond with Kida to not only wonder if her dad is hiding something, but to further learn the city's history as he always wanted. He discovers that their advanced technology and immortality has been possible through a massive crystal, the Heart of Atlantis. Roarke would then reveal his betrayal that he has always been after the crystal since he helped Thaddeus find the journal in Iceland, hence the missing page, and wants to profit off it knowing the city will die without it. He punches the elderly king when demanding the location of the crystal is hidden in the middle of the throne room. There, the crystal is surrounded by stone effigies of past kings. When taking Kida with him, he and Milo & Helga see firsthand the princess merge with it. Once that happens, she is placed in a container before Roarke departs with her. He even punches Thatch and steps on his photograph of Thaddues to prove he doesn't care of what irrational damage he's causing. Those actions finally get Milo's friends to understand he is in the wrong. Roarke still leaves with Helga and the remaining mercenaries, but blows up the bridge to keep Thatch from stopping him. When Milo tells the king what happened to his daughter, the latter explains she has been chosen like her mother before because the crystal always picks a host of royal blood in every times of danger to protect the city. The king admits he unintentionally caused a megatsunami when trying to weaponize the power. When that happened, it led to the city's sinking. He then chose to keep the crystal hidden for so long to prevent his daughter from being lost like his wife, which is what will happen if she's not brought back soon. In his dying wish as he dies from internal bleeding, he begs Thatch to save his daughter in order to save the city. Motivated by Sweet, Milo then encourages his friends and the Atlanteans to join him in stopping Roarke from taking the princess to the surface via zeppelin. They cross the bridge with Ketak aircrafts that must be activated by putting their palms on it while simultaneously connecting their necklaces. Within an ensuing gunfight, Roarke kills Helga to lighten the load and in her dying breath, she shoots at the main balloon with a flare gun that causes the zeppelin to descend for good. Milo kills Roarke when exposing his to the crystal with a glass shard. This gives him a crystal form, but he quickly dies when being struck by propellers. The impact of the zeppelin awakens the volcano, which causes the protagonists to quickly take Kida back and nothing else. Back at the city, Milo frees the princess from the container, which in turn allows her to summon stone guardians that set up shield barriers to protect it from the lava. With Atlantis saved, the crystal separates from Kida while still suspended in the sky. Milo then chooses to stay with Kida, whereas his friends return to the surface with treasure and necklaces of their own, but keep the adventure a secret for it's protection. Whitmore would keep it all a secret as well, especially after he's given his own crystal necklace as a gift from Milo. The film ends with Kida carving a stone effigy of her dad as the city restores to former glory.


THOUGHTS


As someone born in the late 90s, I see myself quite grateful to have witnessed a new century of filmmaking and Disney was at their most experimental finding new narratives while still respecting the past in how storytelling can be done. The 2D animation ages gracefully, but the dip of 3D animation benefit in being 10 times more lifelike of a fantasy setting than anything we've gotten before. Frame by frame, the city and its ruins are stunning, whereas the character designs and various creatures stand out from one another. Scenes like the Leviathan attack or the fireflies just age gracefully and you feel constant excitement thanks to a compelling score by James Newton Howard. With elements like that, I'm still hooked as I re-watch in my adulthood because the directing duo of Kirk Wise & Gary Trousdale and the writing team led by Tab Murphy were able to give this ecstatic experience that is able to teach us to respect history and the value of relationships we build otherwise society falls with each time we fail to understand that. I would've not understood this without a colorful voice ensemble so different than what we would get from Disney as the decade progressed. Michael J Fox is easily great as Milo because we admire his compassion for history, which makes it easy for him to appreciate all life around him. His grandpa taught him that and he continues with that mindset through the journey he's dreamt of. Even when he gets what he wants, he doesn't change who he is and that's the kind of person we all want to be. He values the city more than he already does, which makes it instinct for him to be selfless when he chooses to save it from legit extinction. And he stays not because he's in love, but off of the need to keep culture alive, knowing no one else would know how. With the help of a significant other he wasn't even looking for, it's safe to say the city was in the right path of resurrection. Cree Summer is a national treasure as Kida because she's got her own compassion and optimism that drives her in wanting to save her home. She and Milo become so close overnight for sharing such love to the culture. It is sad that she lost her mom at such a young age, but it came quite poignant that her time as a host gave her the chance to have the most unexpected reconnection since she got back an old childhood necklace. Leonard Nimoy may have portrayed Kashekim as a paranoid leader, but the guy has the right to be because he knows that outsiders will be far more irrational than he was in his youth. It was sad for him to die because he wanted to find solace, wishing he can undo his mess. At the very least, he was able to warn what the worst could be which was not done, which makes him not in vein. Considering that exploring Atlantis was a once in a lifetime opportunity, it made sense that many characters approached it differently. I always enjoyed Whitmore because John Mahoney used his eccentricity for the right reasons as in wanting to honor a promise to his friend. He may have been doubtful, but had no problem being proven wrong hence going all out for the expedition. The fact he got his own necklace as proof of Atlantis only confirmed it wasn't all for nothing. Moving on, we may not understand Mole's connection to dirt but Corey Burton makes him memorable he's the harmless one who brings the right brain to the fold. If he wasn't so diverse of a geologist, they definitely would've not known about the volcano. Phil Morris even lived up to the name as Sweet because he was all about being most amiable, since he was the first one in the group to show kindness towards Milo. Don Novello was even his own enigma as Vinny because despite being jovial for demolition, he's got his own soft spot that has him come around in being on the right side. Audrey was also awesome thanks to Jacqueline Obradors making her the most independent since she comes in the toughest compared to the other guys. The late Jim Varney made Cookie likable for being most down to earth when sharing earth, while Florence Stanley is the total opposite as Packard. For someone so cynical, I'm surprised she wasn't with the bad guys. They all come around in accepting Milo because they respect how passion he is with his interest, thus easily coming around in taking his side when it mattered. Considering so many people understood the stakes, it is a shame some let greed do the thinking. Roarke was indeed that and that motive was enough for James Garner to make him manipulative & sadistic with every line he spoke. Word for word before each action, he proved he was in it for himself which only made him scary. The guy was willing to commit genocide to be rich and that is just crazy because that sounds possible in our reality depending on who's leading our countries that define us. I mean his greed went so far he was willing to sacrifice Helga who was loyal to him throughout. Before their downfall, Claudia Christian proved there was only room for one to be most cunning which she proved when destroying the zeppelin. She did that because she just knew if she wasn't gonna get that money before dying, neither should Roarke. If their deaths proved anything, it is the consequence of disrespecting the culture. There are a lot of things I give this movie credit for, but there were moments upon re-watching where I understood why moviegoers don't love it the way it should. For starters, why the hell would Milo use artifacts like a mummy to have practice on his pitch of Atlantis? I know we need exposition on how Atlantis worked as a society, but messing with artifacts is ironic for the wrong reasons. The shrine for his grandpa's hat is cute and all, but I don't think you need half a dozen candles to be poignant. Continuity errors even kick in early because there is no visible puddle before Milo's boss Harcourt drives away. You don't see it when he backs up, so it makes it hard there was that much to splash onto Milo. Hell, I'd like to respect Whitmore having picture proof of his bet with Thaddeus, but if he was so embarrassed he had to kiss him if he was wrong about the journal, I don't see the reason to keep it. I did laugh at the fact Mole had his dirt collection on Milo's bed, but if he didn't anyone to mess it up,he should've not made the bed. Also, how did Milo get his all research material when abandoning ship? Did someone actually get it for him or did he actually travel light as in more books than clothes? If so, that is a crazy convenience. The same can be said with getting the zeppelin in time since that was the one thing they had to get back to the surface without the Ulysses, which is all before Kida gave the supporting characters an alternative. And lastly, how were two Ketaks not strong enough to carry a chained metal container if Milo was able to push it off to avoid the zeppelin’s impact? I know there had to be extra tension of the volcano, but I’m sure this could’ve been handled differently. Ignore these issues though, then you’ll still have a blast. In short, Atlantis: The Lost Empire is one of the many underrated animated films from Disney’s catalog due to being the right example of a creative 180 compared to the fairy tale formula we’re used to. If you want to shake up your animated watchlist, see this now.