tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14812333.post1446629177656442490..comments2023-11-05T02:01:53.847-06:00Comments on Antagony & Ecstasy: DISNEY ANIMATION: ADVENTURE CAPITALISTSTimhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09491952893581644049noreply@blogger.comBlogger12125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14812333.post-24314503305733976192016-05-17T13:24:40.065-05:002016-05-17T13:24:40.065-05:00I finally watched this movie today since a friend ...I finally watched this movie today since a friend lent it to me some time ago, and I didn't want to postpone it further.<br /><br />As a linguist, I was immensely and irrationally enraged by the cataclismically stupid idea of Atlanteans speaking every Indo-European language by virtue of having a root language as their mother tongue.<br />Especially since they have forgotten how to read.<br /><br />And yes, I agree wholeheartedly with everything you've written in this here review. The movie is a cluttered mess, with a confusing storyline and ugly, boring characters.<br /><br />But God, that language idea is stupid. Just... kill me.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14812333.post-59048214807508382232013-08-28T22:37:02.196-05:002013-08-28T22:37:02.196-05:00I decided to put myself through this because it wa...I decided to put myself through this because it was on Netflix and I want to see if I can make it through all the Disney works I've never seen--both the good (I'm not sure I've ever seen "Bambi,"Pinocchio", or "101 Dalmatians" front-to-back) and...well, the bad, too.<br /><br />Although I don't quite see how it received all the venom it did. It doesn't seem actively awful to me, just...dull. Dull plot with the tired old "Dances With Wolves" shit of the white guy saving the helpless noble savages, dull cast of broad-yet-painfully-PC characters, dull action setpieces, dull complex mythology that's not worth digging into, dull score and a horribly dull song over the credits, and a dull boob at the center of it all that lacks the charisma necessary--either via confidence or pity--to make him worth rooting for.<br /><br />And the character design was awful, to be sure. The square fingers bugged me the whole way through, the faces looked like they were constantly deforming when they talked, and when Commander Rourke went berserk in the last part, I'm not sure he ever found his way back on model.<br /><br />There were a bunch of niggling little side-details that bothered me, too--why set it specifically in 1914, then make little use of the setting and have so many little anachronisms (the clothes fastener wasn't commonly known as a "zipper" until the '20s, the "four food groups" didn't seem to happen until the '50s, and the speech patterns feel way too modern)? And there wouldn't be a 1:1 correlation between Old Norse and modern English, so I doubt that misinterpreting a Norse rune wouldn't result in a perfect letter-swap typo of a country name.<br /><br />Still, all in all, I didn't hate it--I just found zero reason to like it.JDhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11924843083559656074noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14812333.post-77551168342420217432013-03-12T19:41:32.277-05:002013-03-12T19:41:32.277-05:00At the time this film came out I was a teenaged an...At the time this film came out I was a teenaged anime fan just stoked to be able to see anything resembling mature animation in the multiplex. Even then my thoughts on Atlantis were "not as good as Titan AE", but I was jazzed that Disney was willing to go there, even if they did a pretty shit job of it.<br /><br />I've seen Titan AE many times over the years and despite its flaws I still love it. I just watched Atlantis for the first time since 2001, and it really sucks.David Greenwoodhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03666205737413060006noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14812333.post-78355796303970497872011-08-06T10:02:57.360-05:002011-08-06T10:02:57.360-05:00Here's another film I have a soft spot for, th...Here's another film I have a soft spot for, though I do recognize (and try really hard to ignore) it's problems. I agree with the one review I read long ago - sadly I can't remember where - that said, "This is a movie that starts with a quote from Plato and ends with a few words in memory of Jim Varney, and we all know what those movies are like, right?"Trishhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08108657342054862720noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14812333.post-90416127596364246972010-09-09T04:24:09.915-05:002010-09-09T04:24:09.915-05:00Hold on! Hold on!
I am a female steampunk nerd wh...Hold on! Hold on!<br /><br />I am a female steampunk nerd who adores Disney AND anime.<br /><br />But nothing can deny how utterly UGLY this movie is and how utterly STALE its script and how totally DEVOID of fun and fantasy it is. It felt like a diluted, washed out, washed up version of every other 'let's go in search of [...]' adventure movie ever made. The single thing I liked about it was Michael J. Fox. His appearance in anything always brings fond memories of Back to the Future. When Milo spoke, I was hearing Marty McFly. I love you, M.J.F...<br /><br />Also, Titan AE (if I vaguely remember) was indeed quite entertaining.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14812333.post-84067933694242644162010-09-09T01:00:45.600-05:002010-09-09T01:00:45.600-05:00As far as plagiarism goes, I saw a tinge of Titan ...As far as plagiarism goes, I saw a tinge of Titan AE, another misguided (though still far superior) attempt and making cartoons for teenage boys. The son following his father's project, the treacherous commander with mercenary intentions, mainly.<br /><br />But in my opinion, the far and away biggest ripoff this movie committed was of James Gurney's Dinotopia: The World Beneath. Granted, that story was also based on the Atlantis myth, so some overlap was inevitable. But still, damn near everything about the submersible confrontation, the subterranean trek, the activation of ancient vehicles modeled after local fauna, the stolen power crystal, was copied wholesale. The only differences being, Dinotopia had talking dinosaurs, interesting characters, and fucking GORGEOUS visuals.Daniel Silberberghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08685707813625269747noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14812333.post-22210429209431340622010-03-06T16:30:29.465-06:002010-03-06T16:30:29.465-06:00I remember renting this movie when it came out on ...I remember renting this movie when it came out on DVD.<br />I had low expectations, but damn, I wasn't expecting it to be THAT bad.<br /><br />Hands down, the worst cartoon ever. Yes, even worse than Captain Planet,<br />because Captain Planet is free.The.Watcherhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06746957245529915320noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14812333.post-86251133349116178822009-12-09T10:58:14.687-06:002009-12-09T10:58:14.687-06:00I felt like I was the target audience for Atlantis...I felt like I was the target audience for <i>Atlantis</i> and I am somewhat older than the demographic you refer to. That may have been part of the problem. As it turned out, I liked the film and maybe naturally didn't see it as "wrong" the way you do, but the inherent limits of its appeal were obvious enough. It's a masterpiece compared to <i>Treasure Planet,</i> for which I can imagine no target audience whatsoever.Samuel Wilsonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00934870299522899944noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14812333.post-23490564353072158192009-12-08T07:21:57.710-06:002009-12-08T07:21:57.710-06:00Even though I admit the story gets non-sensical, I...Even though I admit the story gets non-sensical, I LOVE this movie and I'm not ashamed to say it...<br /><br />I have no problem with the design and animation although I do understand the flaws you point out, at least about Helga.<br /><br /><i>Maybe, for all I know, the directors came up with the idea in the first place</i><br /><br />It's been a long while since I listened to the audio commentary, but I believe yes, the directors and Don Hahn (producer) came up with the "original" idea behind the project, and the final product is pretty much what they wanted to do. They say they wanted to make an homage to Indiana Jones and other iconic movies from that period. Just pulp fun that would take the audience to a spectacular ride.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14812333.post-84941402319035932832009-12-07T18:55:41.343-06:002009-12-07T18:55:41.343-06:00If I might, having seen the Fanboy signal in the n...If I might, having seen the Fanboy signal in the night sky (it looks suspiciously like a bottle of Jergen's and a box of Kleenex), come to Joss Whedon's defense, I believe he only ever wrote a treatment for the film and then fucked off, presumably to one of his two excellent series at the time with a third in the pipeline.<br /><br />But I remember seeing this as a 12 year old and being like "..." and considering how lenient I am with movies even now that's bad.Jakehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09078001374402400232noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14812333.post-88804203884707911292009-12-07T17:23:10.242-06:002009-12-07T17:23:10.242-06:00My gut tells me to say something leering and assho...My gut tells me to say something leering and assholish, like "female steampunk nerds can keep me afloat anytime", but that would be a wrong and sexist thing to say.<br /><br />That said, female steampunk nerds sounds like a pretty awesome niche market, right up until the point that it means they like <i>Atlantis</i> and That Space Pirate Movie That I Have To Watch In The Next Several Hours And Don't Want To.Timhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09491952893581644049noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14812333.post-2172700826212898622009-12-07T14:04:07.540-06:002009-12-07T14:04:07.540-06:00I actually know a great number of people who have ...I actually know a great number of people who have a large fondness for this film. And the upcoming Treasure Planet. I think that, rather than appealing to teenaged boys, Disney ended up appealing to teenaged steampunk nerds, who together shout, "Steampunk! And Disney! <i>Disney steampunk</i>, so cool!" because it marries their childhood memories of Disney with their current obsession with The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen. Granted, 'female steampunk nerds' isn't exactly a demographic large enough to keep Disney afloat.Meganhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14872907965389104215noreply@blogger.com