the lost empire the monkey king full movie

Beauty and the Beast and The Hunchback of Notre Dame both come from reputable sources, and both successfully channel the sources' darkness for a younger audience. It's clear that Trousdale and Wise's strengths lie in adapting existing stories. The only thing more painful than a bad film made by bad filmmakers is a bad film made by good filmmakers. But Atlantis comes from an original treatment by Joss Whedon, and is helmed by Gary Trousdale and Kirk Wise, the same team behind Beauty and the Beast. Most of us are aware of Disney's track record in this regard, and would therefore lower our expectations from expecting the best to hoping for something other than the very worst. It's ironic that the film disappointed at the box office, considering that most of it feels like it was created to sell a toy rather than tell a story.Īll this could be somewhat rationalised if the film were a straight-to-video project, or an episode of a TV series based on another Disney film. The film is a relentless race to the bottom, treating its audience young and old like complete idiots and not offering up one original or creative idea in compensation.

But this argument holds no water, since in every other way the film is conventional to the point of utter contempt.

I argued that while PIXAR were pushing the envelope of what mainstream animation could achieve, Disney were aggressively re-treading old ground, 'trying to push the same old stuff overlaid with snazzier visuals.' Since the Disney empire diversified in the 1950s, the animation department has had to fight for power against the cash cows of theme parks and merchandising - and the success of these arms has often influenced the output of Disney's more creative elements.Īpologists may defend Atlantis as a break from the Disney norm of fairy tales and princesses. When I reviewed Treasure Planet three months ago, I drew a comparison between Disney and PIXAR in the early-2000s. Whichever approach one takes, Atlantis: The Lost Empire is not worthy of any recommendation, being one of the laziest animated films in recent memory. But either approach is infinitely preferable to the dim view that children are stupid enough to watch anything, and that a 'children's film' does not have to be as well-made as one intended for grown-ups. The other is to take a more moralistic view, imagining whether you would show a given film to your own children (real or hypothetical) on the basis of the messages or lessons that it contains.īoth approaches are problematic, insofar as they use adult language, knowledge and expectations of a medium to recommend something that was never intended for adults, at least not primarily. One is to review the film in question as first and foremost a piece of cinema, analysing its narrative and technical aspects and giving out recommendations on this basis. When reviewing children's films, there are two main approaches one can take.

The lost empire the monkey king full movie