And this week's Friday night movie has been....Atlantis: The Lost Empire!
It has always always been my perception that the Disney Renaissance ended with The Lion King. Every movie that followed, at least until Tangled, has polarized opinion and would sooner be discarded by the Disney faithful and left in the trash heap alongside the sequels. Therefore it is something of challenge to find, as some would claim, a 'diamond in the rough' / 'underrated classic'.
Which now brings me to Atlantis: The Lost Empire, a movie I have put off until now. So could this be prove to be an underappreciated gem?
First things first: The animation is great. It may be a given considering this is Disney but the characters are expressive, full of energy and have some great designs. Speaking of which, there are some superb mech designs, some truly imaginative sequences throughout and everything rockets along at a cracking pace. And, if anything, this come across as an action movie - perhaps the purest action movie in Disney's animated canon.
Plus, as a sci-fi nerd, there is some amusement in having the voices of Spock and Susan Ivanova in the same movie.
However this is a movie of two halves: The first half does indeed move but at times it is difficult to keep up and not enough time is spent to process key plot advancements. The second half however is when things slow down and time can be invested in the plot. And there are some moments of astonishment that easily rank among Disney's best (the part when Kida approaches the Heart springs to mind) but it does leave me wishing such a pace was consistent.
Grumbling aside is this an 'underappreciated gem'? Maybe - but what i will declare this as an action movie and all the better for it
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