Review: The Road to El Dorado

Miguel (voiced by Sir Kenneth Branagh) and Tulio (voiced by Kevin Kline) are likeable con artists who win a treasure map in a dice game that points to the legendary El Dorado, AKA The Lost City of Gold (Anyone else have the theme from “The Mysterious Cities of Gold” in their heads now? Awesome song!). On the run from a con that went awry, they somehow stumble/luck their way into El Dorado. Once there, they are proclaimed Gods by a local High Priest (voiced by Armand Assante), and hey, who are they to disagree? All the better to disguise their plans to run off with a whole lotta loot. However, this High Priest isn’t all that he appears, and it’s not long before our charming rogues find themselves in all sorts of trouble as unwitting pawns in a power struggle between two tribal elders of very differing morals/temperament. Helping them out is Aztec girl Chel (voiced by Rosie Perez), who knows what the two men really are, and wants to escape with them and a cut of their pilfered riches.

 

A good, funny first half and a draggy, less funny second half add up to an overall watchable whole at best with this 2000 DreamWorks animated movie. Directed by Eric ‘Bibo’ Bergeron (“Shark Tale”) & Don Paul (previously an FX animator for Disney) and scripted by the team of Ted Elliott & Terry Rossio (“Aladdin”, the “Pirates of the Caribbean” films), there’s some very funny moments early on, with the horse being a particularly strong source of humour despite not even saying anything or even doing much. Kevin Kline is perfectly cast and Sir Kenneth manages to be refreshingly loose, they’re a really fun team of likeable scoundrels/con artists. Kline’s casting is especially important, because these guys are scoundrels, but Kline is the guy you hire when you want to make your scoundrel likeable. Kline definitely delivers, and if Branagh is less likeable, that’s somehow all the better for it because it sets him apart from Kline’s character.

 

The animation is pretty decent, if a tad angular for my liking. It’s certainly a lot better than in Disney’s “Pocahontas” and “Hercules”. Certain horny male viewers who don’t quite go for the traditional Disney princess look (or the pneumatic Jessica Rabbit for that matter) might be quite enamoured with the design of Chel, who is perhaps the first animated movie character for viewers who have an anal fixation. Trust me, you’ll be unable to think of anything else when you see her. As for me, whilst she’s not as disproportionate as Lilo’s sister in “Lilo & Stitch” (the animators went too far and turned her into a dugong with the legs of a New Zealand Rugby Union player!), the character is a bit squat-looking for my tastes. At least the animators have found a way to make such ethnic characters look different without turning them into borderline anthropomorphised sea creatures. I must say that I was slightly pleasantly surprised that the normally nauseating Rosie Perez’s voice is much toned down here. Also, despite adopting a strangely inappropriate English accent of sorts, Armand Assante is pretty good as a villain, even if the film feels to have hit a dead stop once we get to this section of the film. It’s definitely no fault of Assante’s, more that his character’s villainy just isn’t emphasised enough in the story. The non-character animation is pretty solid, with water in particular looking quite textured.

 

The film also comes with a particularly strong music score by John Powell (“Antz”, “Happy Feet”, “Rio”, “Kung Fu Panda”) & Hans Zimmer (“The Lion King”, “Gladiator”, “Kung Fu Panda”, “Inception”), and although far from memorable the songs by Elton John and lyricist Tim Rice are at least not as sombre as “The Lion King”. This is a romp, after all. Like the Phil Collins songs in Disney’s “Tarzan”, the songs are probably bland as hell on their own, but featured in the film they give it a little extra something.

 

Not bad, and the first half is good fun, but if you’re looking for an animated excursion to the lost city of gold, I’d suggest the brilliant 80s kids show “The Mysterious Cities of Gold”. This one has its moments, but the villain isn’t in the film nearly enough to resonate, and the film overall is just a tad under.

 

Rating: C+