As it appeared on a year that was basically owned by Pixar's terrific "Finding Nemo", it is not surprising to find this film among the pile forgotten animations of that year. Along with Warner's "Looney Tunes: Back in Action" and Disney's other efforts ("Brother Bear" and "Piglet's Big Movie"), "Sinbad: Legend of the Seven Seas" went out as fast as it came. However, and unlike the other three movies, this one was actually better than good, and was a throw-back to the old animated adventures of sword and sorcery in many ways superior to Disney's "Hercules".
Sinbad, the Persian sailor of "The Book of One Thousand and One Nights", is drastically changed for this adventure. Here he appears (voiced by Brad Pitt) as an infamous Greek pirate who is hunting for the legendary "Book of Peace" in order to become rich enough to spend his days relaxing at Fiji. To his surprise, the Book is guarded by his childhood friend Proteus (Joseph Fiennes), so he finally decides not to steal the Book. However, the Greek goddess Eris (Michelle Pfeiffer) also wants the Book, so she frames Sinbad for stealing the book, and now he has one chance to recover the Book and prove he is innocent or Proteus will be executed in his place.
That's the beginning of Sinbad's adventure and just like old swashbuckling films, the movie is charged with action, adventure and comedy, with also a bit of romance, courtesy of Marina (Catherine Zeta-Jones), an adventurous woman confused by the love she feels for both Proteus and Sinbad. Directors Patrick Gilmore and Tim Johnson make a very good mix of modern and old school animations like Dreamworks previously did in "The Prince of Egypt" and "The Road to El Dorado". The mix of styles works very good for the most part although it was notorious in some scenes.
Purists will be disappointed as this is not a literal adaptation of the Travels of Sinbad, however, I think writer John Logan made a very good job mixing elements of both mythologies (arabian and Greek) as well as many references to the original literature works he bases his script in. The story unfolds smoothly and never gets boring or tedious, although it is true that at times it forgets it is an epic adventure and becomes a typical romantic comedy.
The voice work is relatively good, Michelle Pfeiffer is terrific as Eris and Fiennes gives the necessary dignity to Prince Proteus, but the rest of the cast is nothing special and one wonders why to hire a well-known movie star instead of more experienced voice actors. The characters are very well defined and the movie as a whole shows a big improvement over previous Dreamworks animated films.
While the film is very entertaining and funny, it lacks that "epic" feeling this kind of adventures should convey, and never truly explores its enormous potential. A better musical score and a couple of more action scenes would had improved the film a lot. The short runtime doesn't really help in this matter and it is a bit disappointing because it is a very well done film.
2003 will always be remembered as "Finding Nemo"'s year in terms of animated film, and the reason of that was the lack of a serious competition. Still, while nowhere near Pixar's modern classic, "Sinbad: Legend of the Seven Seas" is an action-packed animated film that not only the young ones will enjoy, as it feels almost like one of those swashbuckling classics of old. 7/10
Sinbad, the Persian sailor of "The Book of One Thousand and One Nights", is drastically changed for this adventure. Here he appears (voiced by Brad Pitt) as an infamous Greek pirate who is hunting for the legendary "Book of Peace" in order to become rich enough to spend his days relaxing at Fiji. To his surprise, the Book is guarded by his childhood friend Proteus (Joseph Fiennes), so he finally decides not to steal the Book. However, the Greek goddess Eris (Michelle Pfeiffer) also wants the Book, so she frames Sinbad for stealing the book, and now he has one chance to recover the Book and prove he is innocent or Proteus will be executed in his place.
That's the beginning of Sinbad's adventure and just like old swashbuckling films, the movie is charged with action, adventure and comedy, with also a bit of romance, courtesy of Marina (Catherine Zeta-Jones), an adventurous woman confused by the love she feels for both Proteus and Sinbad. Directors Patrick Gilmore and Tim Johnson make a very good mix of modern and old school animations like Dreamworks previously did in "The Prince of Egypt" and "The Road to El Dorado". The mix of styles works very good for the most part although it was notorious in some scenes.
Purists will be disappointed as this is not a literal adaptation of the Travels of Sinbad, however, I think writer John Logan made a very good job mixing elements of both mythologies (arabian and Greek) as well as many references to the original literature works he bases his script in. The story unfolds smoothly and never gets boring or tedious, although it is true that at times it forgets it is an epic adventure and becomes a typical romantic comedy.
The voice work is relatively good, Michelle Pfeiffer is terrific as Eris and Fiennes gives the necessary dignity to Prince Proteus, but the rest of the cast is nothing special and one wonders why to hire a well-known movie star instead of more experienced voice actors. The characters are very well defined and the movie as a whole shows a big improvement over previous Dreamworks animated films.
While the film is very entertaining and funny, it lacks that "epic" feeling this kind of adventures should convey, and never truly explores its enormous potential. A better musical score and a couple of more action scenes would had improved the film a lot. The short runtime doesn't really help in this matter and it is a bit disappointing because it is a very well done film.
2003 will always be remembered as "Finding Nemo"'s year in terms of animated film, and the reason of that was the lack of a serious competition. Still, while nowhere near Pixar's modern classic, "Sinbad: Legend of the Seven Seas" is an action-packed animated film that not only the young ones will enjoy, as it feels almost like one of those swashbuckling classics of old. 7/10