My Review of Anastasia (1997) · 12:17am Jun 1st, 2021

Rating Scale:

12/10—a complete masterpiece; flawless and outstanding
11/10—Excellent, near-perfect film
10/10—the standard rating; awesome film with a couple of flaws
9/10—a wonderful film with several flaws
8/10–a great film with numerous flaws but not enough to ruin it
7/10—a fun and entertaining movie; not great but still enjoyable
6/10—a slightly above average film; it is something I might watch again
5/10—mediocre movie; not awful but not great either
4/10—a below average film; it could have been much better
3/10—a bad film; poorly written and poorly executed
2/10—a very bad movie; the few good things in the movie overshadowed by the bad things
1/10—a terrible movie; a total waste of time
0/10—a worthless piece of abomination; should have never been made

Hello, my fellow jesters! Mr. J is back with another movie review for today! This evening, I will be talking about one of the most underrated animated films of all time: Anastasia. This film is truly beautiful, profound, emotional, and enjoyable in every sense of those terms; not only is it entertaining but also inspiring in a way that will help viewers to never give up their pursuit of happiness and genuine peace especially when it comes to family reunions. I really love this film, and it amazes me that it is so underrated.

Just like with Pocahontas, this is based on a historical event that took place within Russia in regards to the Romanovs family. As usual, I will not rate or review this film based on its historical accuracy (because most of those films always come out as historically inaccurate anyway) and only talk of its own merits.

Anastasia (voiced by Meg Ryan) was an actually interesting protagonist as she has a humorous, sassy, and sweet personality which is something I personally love to see. After being forcefully separated from her grandmother due to the murder of her family members, she had to live ten full years without even remembering her origin thanks to being dropped on the head as a kid. As her grandmother had to live with that emotional pain of losing her beloved granddaughter, she had to deal with all those impostors who claimed to be Anastasia for a reward.

The romantic relationship between Anastasia and Dimitri was really well-written and very believable. Speaking of whom, Dimitri was a funny deuteragonist as well as charming, sarcastic, cunning, and very committed. Although he was a little annoying here and there, he was still a good character to watch on screen. He is way better than Aladdin and most Disney princes I know. John Cusack did well voicing him.

The songs were beautifully sung well, the animation was amazingly splendid, and the story was really great and easy to follow along. Seriously, this movie’s animation was so beautiful to look at honestly. I mean, who doesn’t love this animation style?!

This guy was an absolute badass! Rasputin became one of my favorite animated villains as soon as I watched his first appearance in the movie. He is menacing, sadistic, intelligent, deadly, charismatic, and highly entertaining in terms of dark humor. Plus, the fact that he was voiced by the legendary Christopher Lloyd was a huge bonus for me. I really love that guy.

Shout out to Kelsey Grammer for voicing Vladimir; Kirsten Dunst for voicing the young Anastasia; Hank Azaria for voicing Bartok (funny and lovable character btw); Angela Lansbury for voicing the Dowager Empress (same voice actress for Mrs. Potts); and Gary Goldman along with Don Bluth for directing this movie!

My favorite song of the movie is, of course, In the Dark of the Night sung by Jim Cummings and the others. Enjoy this one!