I watched Atlantis a lot when I was a kid and liked back then. To this day I do not love it, but view it as a mostly successful step from Disney away from their usual song-driven fairy tales. When I say mostly, it is because of the Atlantian mythology and their language and gadgets created for the movie are inventive and well done while the supporting characters and their development through the movie is a little lacking. Milo is a likable main character and Kida is also memorable. It's just the crew members i am pointing out.Characters like Mole is really annoying and seems pointless, but that's the only really bad thing about Atlantis. The crew members feel rushed in when they meet Milo and are not overly memorable. The smoking lady and Vinny are exceptions. Despite the villain, Rourke, being one of Disney's weaker villains, I find his arguments with Milo and the battle between them in the climax of the movie good and well executed. And he has one of the craziest deaths in the Disney catalog. The action scenes are in general pretty awesome.Atlantis is overall recommendable, but it is not the typical Disney flick. Therefore I will call it a gamble if you like it or not. I like in spite of its weak spots.

This film mixes gorgeous animation, an intriguing journey and fascinating characters, resulting in a truly underrated work of art.Set in the early 20th Century, the film stars Michael J. Fox as Milo Thatch, a young linguist who's been delegated to the boiler-room. He's bright-eyed and idealistic, and not given much respect from the academic community. That is, until he's recruited by an eccentric millionaire (played by a delightfully zesty John Mahoney) to join an expedition to find the lost Atlantis. The supporting cast is full of colourful characters: A fast-talking doctor, a sassy teenage mechanic, a bizarre little guy obsessed with dirt, and a demolitions expert who dreams of one day opening his very own florist shop. They're simply fun to be around, and they're given the chance to be themselves without being constricted by the needs of the plot.Marc Okrand (the creator of Star Trek's beloved Klingon language) was actually hired to create the Atlantean language featured in the film. Designed to be somewhat of a "mother" language, it takes influence from Indo-European roots. As such, the film is a treat for anyone who has studied linguistics or ancient history. One of the downsides of the film is that the villain is not very interesting or believable. There is very little motivation that drives the villain to do what they do -- at least not realistically. This is really the only reason I would not give this film a ten, as the villain's scheme hogs a good chunk of the climax, and the characterisation feels rather weak.The best part of this film is how much diversity and creativity goes into creating the world. A lot of effort went in to making the world seem real, and it shows. There are so many layers to the story, and every detail makes the story even more intriguing. The artwork is astonishingly gorgeous, and a stark reminder that 2D animation can sometimes be the most powerful and impacting choice. The detail, oh, wow, the detail that went into this film!Overall, it's an exciting and clever adventure, with memorable and fascinating characters. This is an underrated gem that really deserves more recognition for the fantastic work that went into it.

I loved this movie as a kid, and I remembered almost none of it. Watching it again I realize that it was a pretty good movie still. It follows a man who believes that Atlantis exists and goes searching for it. The plot of Atlantis: The Lost Empire is interesting. It doesn't waste any time getting right into the adventure, which wasn't surprising. It wasn't really a good thing either though. Other than that, the movie is well-paced and entertaining throughout. The history of Atlantis is one that I haven't seen before though, and it's quite interesting. Other than that it's not horribly original, but like I said, it's still enjoyable for sure. The characters aren't anything special. We get some brief back stories that don't really do much for the characters, but some of them work well enough. Still, they're rushed. Again, it's not like I'm surprised or anything, but it just limits the amount of people who will be able to fully enjoy this movie. The visuals are very good. The art style is very cool, and the character designs are great too. It doesn't stick right out in your face, but it's there, and I loved it. Overall Atlantis: The Lost Empire is a solid adventure movie. While it's ideas aren't particularly unique, it's well-paced and presented well enough. The characters and beginning are rushed, but the visuals are great and it's just all around a really enjoyable movie. In the end I would recommend this movie.

This film credits eight people for its screenplay and story, one of them Joss Whedon. And yeah, it shows. In the worst way possible.So what's the story? Milo Thatch is a linguist and cartographer, living in 1914, who believes he has cracked the case of Atlantis, believing the answers to its disappearance and lost location lie in an ancient Icelandic book written by a man who has lived on the island. After the university rejects his proposal for being ill-though and far too unlikely to produce results - not undeservedly so, I must admit - he is approached by a mysterious benefactor, who was a friend of his grandfather, the first Thatch to seek the lost Atlantis. All the classical elements for a great pulp adventure are here and this opening act is easily the strongest segment in the film story-wise. The characters are instantly identifiable, have great designs, the dialogues are interesting and funny, and as a whole the film evokes the feel of the era and style beautifully.The animation also has a style of its own and it is a gorgeous movie in every visual way possible. Especially the scenes in Atlantis are simply majestic, with amazing colours, designs and depth of field.But alas, the bad stuff. First of all, there are too many characters, which is the fault where I can see Whedon's influence the most. This is a cast for a TV series about the finding of Atlantis, not a cast for a movie only hour and a half long. They're all introduced properly and given good, funny characters, but then the film has to drop them to move the plot along. The expedition crew alone has nine members, including Milo. The movie needs Milo plus a crew of three plus the people in Atlantis. Milo plus a crew of two, if you want to be skimpy, but three wouldn't have felt crowded at all.The plot itself also has some minor problems, most notably a few gaping plot holes that could have been fixed without the story being in any way different. Usually I don't mind all that much, but the script draws attention to them and tries to handwave them away through some linguistic mumbo jumbo that's in no way believable. These holes don't ruin the film but they, combined with the general feel of rush caused by the cast overpopulation, make the film feel like it would have been significantly better with one more re-write or perhaps with a slightly longer running time.All in all the film is definitely worth a watch if you're a fan of Disney or pulp adventures. It has a distinct style, fun characters, phenomenal visuals and a story which, while flawed, still delivers good entertainment.