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Its an odd mix of computer and regular animation who's blending doesn't always seem seamless. It does work better than Dreamworks earlier Spirit since the mix helps to add to the other worldliness of some of the bits.
The basic plot has Sinbad trying to steal The Book of Peace from a ship on the ocean. When he finally runs down the ship he finds its commanded by a boyhood friend. Not one to stand on ceremony he attempts to steal the book only to be interrupted by a kraken like being sent by the goddess Eris. Together the pair defeat the beast, in one of the great set pieces of the film, but in the process Sinbad is swept overboard only to be rescued by Eris who tells him to steal the book for her and she'll make him rich. Sinbad agrees, but for reasons left for the viewing , he backs out only to be blamed for the theft anyway. His friend knows he's innocent and takes his place so Sinbad can attempt to get the book back with in the ten days before his execution.
Thats the first fifteen minutes.
Its not as exciting as all of that, these fifteen minutes I mean, since its badly handled exposition done to get the plot really moving.
I have a suspicion that the voyage was designed before the framing sequences and that the inclusion of Eris was done simply because it was a way to get the wheels in motion and have a magical air to it all.
The voice cast is uniformly excellent. It is quite possibly the best voice cast of this stature that I've seen in a long time. (That should be heard). The joys of the listening to Pitt, Pfeiffer, and Zeta-Jones is that they really are acting and really are selling the film. I can imagine everyone being on set and acting together even though the fact is far from the truth.
The writing is excellent and you can see that the film really was written as if it were a live action film in the way that the characters hang together is a more real way than in many animated films where characters are of a type and nothing more.Here the characters are people which is nice.
Because the writing is so good the reasons for things are clearer than in most animated films these are people reasons not cartoon reasons, for example the reason why Sinbad was gone for ten years could only have been come upon by someone who wrote a real script instead of fumbled around with a storyboard. This small moment is, for me one of the high points of the film. The dialog is fantastic, witty and snide and dead nuts on.
The film is best viewed as a film that exists only for the voyage since thats the best part and what a voyage it is. Here the film becomes a series of wonderful set pieces that are joy to behold, but are at times regrettably undercut by the bad directed linking material. Beyond saying ignore the links I want to say little about the actual film other than that the kraken sequence, the dragons teeth sequence, the island hopping, the snow bird and several others are fantastic adventure sequences that rouse you up and get you into the mood to go adventuring. This is great stuff.
And while this is a grand adventure it should be stated that this is a grand ROMANCE. Oh my word its wonderful, pull those little heart strings why don't you. This is the romance of Nick and Nora or Spencer and Susan, but with action added in.
And even as I wax poetic about the movie I must remind you that even as the voyage builds to a conclusion the movie wobbles a bit at the end, not the very end, but a couple of minutes before when I was going to myself, "thats it? You mean all of that and thats it?" Its bad direction I'm telling you (that or studio interference). there shouldn't be that bump towards the end...
But lest you worry it picks up and ends with a bang
score 8/10
dbborroughs 19 January 2008
Reprint: https://www.imdb.com/review/rw1802992/ |
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29-11-2019 18:38:29