My Review of Atlantis: The Lost Empire · 11:51pm Sep 3rd, 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

Greetings to you all! This is Mr. J welcoming you on yet another Disney Friday! This evening, I will be reviewing another movie from Walt Disney Pictures and possibly one of the most underrated animated films ever: Atlantis: The Lost Empire. I must say though that I never really watched this movie before. Just recently, I have been asking myself how the heck I’ve never watched this one and yet managed to watch all the other Disney films I grew up with. It could be because I never once saw the trailer for this movie. The thing is that the trailers were what drew my attention and arrested my interest in seeing these classics from childhood. Because I never heard of or saw the trailer, I didn’t watch this film.

I only heard of it through social media a few years ago and else where. Even then, I wasn’t really interested in seeing Atlantis: The Lost Empire. However, I’ve heard many people say good things about this movie and how it is one of Disney’s greatest movies ever made. I also caught a glimpse of Rourke’s death scene on YouTube.

Now that alone caught my interest. Yeah, I know, I have a thing for epic and well-done villain deaths in general, so don’t be surprised. Lol. Anyway, so I finally got the chance to watch this film last week for the first time. Oh boy, the people have actually spoken correctly! This movie is amazing and well-written than I could have ever expected!

First off, the animation is splendidly magnificent. The way the animators drew and designed the introduction, the characters, the setting, the background, and everything else looks so beautiful. You can tell they put a lot of heart and effort into making this film so good.

The choreography is wonderful as well. Although this doesn’t really feel like a Disney type of creativity, it still holds up to this day in my opinion. It looks very unique to me.

I love the characters this film took its delicate time to establish and flesh out for the audience to empathize with. We have Milo who is a nervous yet knowledgeable and dedicated linguist who wants to prove to everyone that the ancient city of Atlantis is actually real, that the legends thereof are real. However, no one believes him and despises his eager perseverance. Thus, he travels with a group of researchers with various personalities and talents to accompany him although they are annoyed with him at first.

Milo is somehow relatable to me as a character as I too can be eager and desiring for answers and solutions for every problem that presents itself. Michael J. Fox did a terrific job voicing the character, playing a humble character whom I can like and relate to.

Furthermore, I was completely surprised to hear the late Leonard Nimoy’s voice as the Atlantean King. Hearing his voice again just made me happy and sad at the same time. I can never get enough of hearing him talk. *Sigh*

All the side characters were well-written also. They were all good, hilarious, and entertaining for all the screen-time and dialogue they were given. Props to Corey Burton for voicing Mole, Cree Summer for voicing Princess Kida, Phil Morris as Dr. Sweet, Jacqueline Obradors as Audrey, David Ogden Stiers (RIP) as Mr. Harcourt, and Florence Stanley (RIP) for voicing Mrs. Packard. Man, this film has an excellent cast!

I also enjoyed the vocal performance of the late James Garner as Commander Rourke. Although his character wasn’t all that intimidating or menacing that much, he still managed to put all effort into playing the antagonist. Rourke was still pretty badass in terms of strength and influence. Plus, his death scene was very brutal yet satisfying.

Overall, this film does a great job in conveying the important message of seeking knowledge and how useful it will be in using knowledge to help others for the greater good and make genuine friendships. This gets a 9/10!

Peace!