Hi, everyone. "Moriarty" here with some Rumblings From The Lab...
Seems that both Harry and I saw this film tonight. Me in LA. Him in Austin. I don’t know what he thinks, and I haven’t told him what I think. Right now, we’re both gearing up to write about it. In the meantime, here’s a guy who wants to offer up his two cents:
Sinbad: Legend of the Seven Seas is the latest animated offering from Jeffery Katzenberg and Dreamworks. I had the opportunity to catch an advance screening for the film which has the voices of Brad Pitt, Michelle Pfeiffer, Catherine Zeta-Jones, and Joseph Feinnes.
Pitt voices our hero, who begins the film trying to steal The Book of Peace, a holy artifact that maintains peace and balance in the world from his old friend Proteus (Fiennes). Somehow if the book isn't brought back to Madagascar, Proteus' homeland, the world will be a darker and more evil place. Also looking to get her hands on the book is the goddess Eris (Pfeiffer), who has a legion of monsters at her disposal. After Sinbad decides not to rob Proteus, Eris drags him under the sea to convince him that she will make him rich beyond his wildest dreams if he does steal the book for her. Sinbad arrives at Madagascar, the book is stolen, the land turns dark, and Sinbad is blamed. Just as Sinbad is about the executed for his crime, Proteus agrees to die in his place if Sinbad is unable to retrieve the book in ten days. The rest of the film takes us through Sinbad's various adventures in his efforts to steal the book back from Eris. Stowing away on board is Proteus' fiancee Marina (Zeta-Jones), a woman who desires adventure on the high seas.
The film includes some incredible action sequences with some spectacular looking monsters. One standout is the Snowbird sequence which features a gigantic computer generated bird. However, the bird is so beautifully animated that the fact that it is entirely CG that you think it was hand animated and generated by computers. Another character to watch out for is Eris. This character is so cool! She evaporates into a stream of some and moves with such quickness and such grace that the animation is truly a beauty to behold. However, my favorite sequence is the scene where Sinbad and his crew encounter the Sirens and only… well, I refuse to spoil anything more!
The voice acting is excellent. The cast is definitely having a great time with the script and it shows through with the humor. The jokes are definitely adult and there are moments where the humor is so adult that you wonder how they were able to get away with it when this is being marketed as a kids movie. But this movie is much more than that. It is everything that Disney tried to do with Atlantis and Treasure Planet. You want an animated movie with some giant monsters? Sinbad is your movie. It is an action packed ride that keeps you both laughing and on the edge of your seat.
The fact that there are no songs is another plus. (Don't get me wrong, I like songs as much as the next person but Spirit left me with a bad taste in my mouth with a Brian Adams song every five minutes.) The movie moves along so fast that it warrants repeat viewings just so you can see the detail on the creatures that are some of the most beautiful sequences I have ever seen from Dreamworks since Prince of Egypt.
Go see this movie. Sinbad: Legend of the Seven Seas is a fun ride for the whole family that is also a rollicking adventure that will leave you wanting more. It is the potential sleeper hit of the summer. It just needs the audience it deserves. Dreamworks has a sleeping giant that needs to be awakened here and when it does, it will once again prove that Dreamworks is a force to be reckoned with. Also, before the talkbackers start to well...talk back, I am not a plant. I can only wish that Dreamworks was paying me to see this movie but unfortunately I about as much chance of fighting a bad guy in a balloon as I do of getting paid by them.
Rick G
Thanks, man.
"Moriarty" out.
