The Road to El Dorado Review by Tim Wick
I'm going to rant in this review, so I think I had better start by saying I
liked this movie a lot. I give it four out of five beakers. I'll tell you
why later, first I need to rant.
I have the love-hate relationship with the Disney Animation studios. On the
one hand, they do great work. Even the mediocre stuff of recent years has
been at least enjoyable. On the other had, they have created a format for
animated film that other studios seem honor bound to copy. The only studios
that seem to break from this format are Pixar (distributed by Disney) and
Warner Brothers (and for them, it was only The Iron Giant and they failed
to market it properly).
You know the format I mean. A good story with interesting characters and
then some cute animal sidekicks and music thrown in for the kids. At least
that is what it feels like when you watch one of the recent Disney movies. I
can deal with the animals, but the songs are driving me NUTS. Even since
Howard Ashman died, the music no longer fits the film. Instead, it grapples
with the film as if they are in a fight for superiority.
A few examples:
Tarzan, which I enjoyed, has a bunch of songs by Phil Collins. The movie
itself has storytelling flaws that make it a lesser Disney, but nothing is
more jarring than the music. The reason is that you just don't think of Phil
Collins being out in the African desert. The music doesn't sound African, it
sounds poppy. Instead of complementing the film, it pulls you out of the
film and you can practically hear someone shouting "go buy this fantastic song
by PHIL COLLINS!!!!"
The Prince of Egypt, another film I enjoyed. This movie peps up the story of
Moses with pop numbers sung by it's stars. The music does not help the story
at all. Instead the story stops cold while the characters drone on about
whatever it is they are singing about. If you want to see how the right
music can help this story, watch The Ten Commandments. The score to that
film FEELS biblical.
Which brings me to The Road to El Dorado, produced by Dreamworks (who also
produced The Prince of Egypt). For those of you that don't remember,
Dreamworks was founded by three people - not just Stephen Spielberg. David
Geffen and Jeffrey Katzenberg are the other two. Katzenberg used to be in
charge of the Disney animated studios. You can tell when you watch the
Dreamworks animated productions.
The animation quality is fantastic. They blend computer and hand animation
quite well (except for a few points) and their use of color and camera angle
is wonderful. The massive scale on which the characters work is enhanced by
the animation. When the camera takes you up the steps of a Mayan pyramid,
you get as tired as the characters do. The opening sequence, with the Mayan
myth of creation played out through animation that replicates Mayan artwork,
is a visual feast.
The story, a strange combination of an old Bing Crosby/Bob Hope road movie
and The Man who Would be King, is a lot of fun. They throw in the
traditional animal sidekicks (in this case a horse and an armadillo), but
they are not anthropomorphized. The two main characters have an enjoyable
banter that makes the dialogue a lot of fun and really makes you want them to
succeed despite the overall fact that they are a couple of con men. You get
the chance to watch both characters grow and become more than who they were
in a way that feels natural.
The two leads, Tulio and Miguel, are voiced by Kevin Kline and Kenneth
Branaugh respectively. Given the last time these two worked together was on
Wild Wild West, it is a redemptive role for both of them. Both do terrific
work here and are assisted by Rosie Perez as the Mayan con artist Chel and
Armaund Assante as the demonic priest Tzekel-Kan. When the characters are
talking, this film rivals the best Disney of the 80's.
Then, unfortunately, they start to sing. The songs are written by Elton
John, which means they are mostly sung by Elton John. Klaus Badelt scored
the movie and the background music sounds vaguely Mayan in flavor (whatever
that means). Then a song starts and we are transported to our favorite pop
radio station for a few minutes. It is jarring and grinds the movie to a
halt, just like Prince of Egypt. The opening sequence I mentioned above is
damn near ruined by Elton John's singing. It just doesn't fit!
Dreamworks looks like it could mount a successful run against the Disney
Animation juggernaut, but it needs to take chances. Disney won't stray from
it's formula, but other studios need to if we are to see real innovation in
the world of US animation (I'm not talking about Anime here).
I still give this movie four out of five beakers because I really did enjoy
it, but I am begging Dreamworks to dump the music and concentrate on the
stories. That is where they excel.
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