By Robert Scucci | Published
If you have kids and you’re fed up Upside down 2 after your hundredth viewing, you might want to check out one of the most fantastical adventures offered by Walt Disney Feature Animation early on: Atlantis: The Lost Empire. While I don’t necessarily throw shade at Disney’s new intellectual properties, I’m definitely tired of the overexposure to new releases, and I’ve been watching Aladdin too often as a kid to even think about incorporating this into my family’s Disney animation rotation for the sake of my own mental health.
Since I was too cool for school then Atlantis: The Lost Empire was making his rounds, I only saw him for the first time recently. Although some of the character development seems a bit rushed in this sci-fi action-adventure epic, the animation and voice acting are brilliantly done. And if you’re a Trekkie who needs further convincing, you’ll be happy to know that Leonard Nimoy’s talent is on full display in his portrayal of the King of Atlantis.
An improbable adventure
Atlantis: The Lost Empire first focuses on 6800 BC to show us how the lost city of Atlantis was lost in the first place. In case you’re wondering, it was a megatsunami that pushed the city underwater, introducing us to Kashekim Nedakh (Leonard Nimoy), the king of Atlantis, and his young daughter, Kidagakash “Kida” Nedakh (voiced by Natalie Strom during this sequence) after being mysteriously abandoned by the Queen of Atlantis.
Fast forward to the year 1914 and we meet a clumsy, clumsy linguist named Milo Thatch (Michael J. Fox), who is obsessed with the lost city of Atlantis but fails to secure proper funding from the Smithsonian Institution to do so. go. on the expedition based on his extensive research.
Unbeknownst to Milo, his late grandfather Thaddeus was in the good graces of an eccentric millionaire named Preston B. Whitmore (John Mahoney), who decides to finance an elaborate expedition to Atlantis out of his own pocket. Offer Milo his precious copy of The Shepherd’s Journal, the map which describes the way to Atlantis, and presenting it to the crew of the expedition, Whitmore sends it on its way, and Atlantis: The Lost Empire leaves the streets and dives into the sea for the rest of the film.
Never trust a mercenary
Milo is more than excited 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: locating the ‘Atlantis and seeing the lost empire for himself.
Milo is joined by a ragtag group of misfits led by Commander Lyle Tiberius Rourke (James Garner), including his second-in-command, Lieutenant Helga Katrina Sinclair (Claudia Christian), a demolitions 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) and a radio operator. French geologist who acts as a mole named Gaetan “Mole” Molière (Corey Burton).
After an unexpected mechanical attack from Leviathan kills most of the crew’s supporting soldiers and sailors in an epic series of explosions, Milo and company finally locate the lost city of Atlantis and report to Kashekim Nedakh and a Adult Kida (Cree Summer). While Kida is receptive to the idea of allowing Milo to recover the history of Atlantis with his unique expertise, Kashekim is wary of the crew and pushes back assuming they are up to no good.
As luck would have it, and much to Milo’s shock and disgust, Commander Rourke is only trying to locate the ancient crystal located in Atlantis, and he only visits the lost city to ransack it for his own personal gain. Having figured out his sinister plot, Milo, Kida and the rest of the crew join forces to reclaim the lost city of Atlantis before the ancient civilization is robbed of its life force.
An underwater adventure for the whole family
As much as I love the visuals and snappy dialogue found in Atlantis: The Lost Empireone thing that really bothered me was how quickly Milo transformed from a nervous wreck who can’t run down the hallway of the Smithsonian without tripping over his own feet into an underwater hero with reaction time and agility worthy of God. But since we’re talking about a kids’ movie with fast-paced action sequences, I’m willing to suspend some disbelief by watching a movie about an ancient secret underwater society controlled by glowing blue crystals.
At the end of the day Atlantis: The Lost Empire is a visually stunning, witty and action-packed family film streaming on Disney+ that will bring out the explorer in you.
