From Robert Scucci
| Published
If you have children and are tired of it From the inside out 2 After your hundredth viewing, you may want to check out one of the more fantastical adventures that Walt Disney Feature Animation has released in the early hours: Atlantis: The Lost Empire. While I don’t necessarily dislike Disney’s newer IP, I’m definitely jaded by the over-exposure to new releases, and I checked it out Aladdin I myself did it too many times as a child to even consider incorporating it into my family’s Disney animation rotation for the sake of my own sanity.
Because I was too cool for school back then Atlantis: The Lost Empire made its rounds, I only recently saw it for the first time. While the character development in this sci-fantasy action-adventure epic seems a bit rushed at times, the animation and voice acting are brilliantly done. And if you’re a Trekkie who needs even more convincing, you’ll be happy to know that Leonard Nimoy’s talents feature prominently in his portrayal of the King of Atlantis.
An unlikely adventure
Atlantis: The Lost Empire initially focuses on the year 6800 BC. BC to show us how the lost city of Atlantis was lost in the first place. In case you were wondering, it was a megatsunami that pushed the city underwater and introduced us to Kashekim Nedakh (Leonard Nimoy), the king of Atlantis, and his young daughter Kidagakash “Kida” Nedakh (voiced by Natalie Strom in this sequence). . after she was mysteriously left behind by the Queen of Atlantis.
Let’s take a look back to 1914 and we meet a clumsy and bumbling linguist named Milo Thatch (Michael J Fox), who is obsessed with the lost city of Atlantis, but is unable to obtain proper funding for the expedition due to his extensive research from the Smithsonian Institution.
Little did Milo know that his late grandfather Thaddeus was in good hands with an eccentric millionaire named Preston B. Whitmore (John Mahoney), who decides to finance an elaborate expedition to Atlantis out of his own pocket. I’m giving Milo his beloved copy of The Shepherd’s Diary, the map that describes the route to Atlantis and presents it to the expedition team, Whitmore sends him on his way, and Atlantis: The Lost Empire leaves the streets and throws himself into the sea for the rest of the film.
Never trust a mercenary
Milo is more than excited about the opportunity to put his knowledge of dead languages and navigation to the test, and he finally has the financial backing to live out his grandfather’s wildest fantasy of finding Atlantis and seeing the lost empire with his own eyes see.
Milo is joined by a ragtag group of misfits led by Commander Lyle Tiberius Rourke (James Garner), including his deputy, Lieutenant Helga Katrina Sinclair (Claudia Christian), a demolition expert named Vinny (Don Novello), Dr. Joshua Strongbear Sweet (Phil Morris), an eccentric cook named Jebidiah Allardyce “Cookie” Farnsworth (Jim Varney), Wilhelmina Bertha Packard (Florence Stanley), the radio operator, and a French geologist named Gaetan “Mole” Molière (Corey Burton), the behaves like a mole.
After an unexpected mechanical Leviathan attack that kills most of the crew’s supporting soldiers and sailors in an epic series of explosions, Milo and his companions finally find the lost city of Atlantis and introduce themselves to Kashekim Nedakh and an adult Kida (Cree Summer). While Kida is open to the idea of allowing Milo to restore the history of Atlantis using his unique expertise, Kashekim is suspicious of the crew and resists, believing they are up to no good.
As luck would have it, and to the shock and disgust of Milo, Commander Rourke is only trying to find the ancient crystal that is in Atlantis, and he only visits the lost city to search it for his personal gain. After realizing his sinister plan, Milo, Kida and the rest of the crew put their heads together to reclaim the lost city of Atlantis before the ancient civilization is drained of its life force.
An underwater adventure for the whole family
As much as I love the visuals and snappy dialogue Atlantis: The Lost EmpireWhat really bothered me was how quickly Milo transformed from a nervous wreck who can’t walk down the Smithsonian hallway without tripping over his own feet to an underwater hero with god-like reaction time and agility. But since this is a children’s film with breakneck pace and action sequences, I’m willing to suspend my disbelief as I watch a film about a secret ancient underwater society controlled by glowing blue crystals.
At the end of the day Atlantis: The Lost Empire is a visually stunning, funny and action-packed family film streaming on Disney+ that will bring out the explorer in you.
