Movie-Vault.com
July 3, 2003
By Le Apprenti

Rating: 5/10
Voting: 9.33 (6 votes)

The mythical legend of Sinbad the sailor/thief/hero/adventurer has seen many screen treatments chronicling his exploits. Among them are Sinbad & the Eye of the Tiger (with Bond girl Jane Seymour), The Golden Voyage of Sinbad (with Bond girl Caroline Munro), Sinbad of the Seven Seas (post-Hulk Lou Ferrigno in the title role), the Golden Age The Desert Hawk (with Yvonne de Carlo) and Sinbad the Sailor, and a recent animated feature Sinbad: Beyond the Veil of the Mists. This latest Dreamworks’ animated feature, which has him chasing after a book, fighting gigantic monsters and going toe-to-toe with an evil goddess, aims to appeal to audiences of single-digit age.

Sinbad (Brad Pitt) is the typical screen swashbuckler who spends as much time expressing himself the American way as he does on his adventure. He is the captain of The Chimera, whose crew includes first mate Kale (Dennis Haysbert), scout Rat (Adriano Giannini) and bulldog Spike – scriptwriter John Logan is not particularly imaginative when it comes to mythical names for pets. On his usual pirating quest, he meets Proteus (Joseph Fiennes), the crown prince of Syracuse, Sinbad’s old best friend who is engaged to Marina (Catherine Zeta-Jones).

Unbeknownst to the mortal world, the villain Eris (Michelle Pfeiffer), the Goddess of Chaos, steals the Book of Peace, Syracuse’s national treasure, and frames Sinbad for the theft – he did try to steal it earlier. After Sinbad receives the death sentence for the allegedly theft, a Damon-Pythias relationship occurs in which Proteus offers to take Sinbad’s place while the latter is released and given 10 days to retrieve the Book of Peace. Oh, Marina joins the Chimara crew, out of gender representation for the young female audience. (Incidentally, the Damon & Pythias story also takes place in Syracuse. That Syracuse’s king is Dionysius. In Sinbad, the king is Dymas.)

This Sinbad is unlike previous Sinbad films. It does not take a genius to realize what the filmmakers have done. An Arabian legend is taken out of his element and placed in a cocktail of Greek mythological ingredients, which includes the Damon and Pythias angle, the Sirens and Eris the goddess to name a few. Even Syracuse has some Greek influence in its production design. Its production value, however, is akin to that of a Hollywood blockbuster. This is never made clearer by over-the-top dialogue and the ensemble of cast chosen for their names than for their voices (something that Disney does not do). Big-name stars try to compensate for what are lacking in the movie, but not enough.

There is no question that Sinbad’s lines are tailored for Pitt. They are nothing more than a series of pop culture clichés intended almost exclusively for self-expression. Who better to deliver them with striking finesse than a Hollywood actor? Zeta-Jones’ Marina has attitude, much like any “independent strong-willed women of today”, and almost as much clichés in her lines as Sinbad. What happens when female attitude faces off with a chauvinistic prince of clichés? Answer: A painful ear-ringer. Now, there would be no complaints about their voiceover efforts had the animation been of adequate caliber to match.

In contrast to the energetic voiceovers, the animation is wooden. It lacks fluidity in many places and at times almost expressionless. It is neither flamboyant enough for Pitt’s Sinbad nor spirited enough for Zeta-Jones’ Marina. Proteus, being the Damon of the story (against Sinbad’s Pythias), has the most poignant lines but their expressions are lost in the animation. However, it has some success with Pfeiffer’s Eris because the character’s perpetual mist-morphings liberate the animators from having to render her traditionally, thereby not making her as wooden as the other characters.

Dreamworks makes up for this deficiency with exquisite 3-D computer animation and special effects. Eris’ godlike pets are based on star constellations and are given a cosmic look. Another visual feast is the gigantic island-monster of more than 1000 feet long. The most beautiful of them all are the Sirens, those mythical female creatures whose singing entranced sailors to their deaths. Their forms are defined as liquid taking on definitive shapes of women and collapsing into drops of water. They are a sight to behold, especially when accompanied by their ethereal singings.

As for the quality of the script, it is hardly worth mentioning. The Damon and Pythias angle is the only notable dramatic point but is frequently dominated by Sinbad’s action adventure. It becomes an afterthought whenever Proteus disappears from the screen. The romance between Marina and Sinbad is forced, unsubstantial, and poorly developed and resolved. Clearly, the filmmakers are trying to push this into a movie even though its intended audiences are too young to be learning to kiss and make out. The kids will not be bothered though, for their eyes will be drawn on the action sequences and 3-D animation of the monstrous creatures, to the exclusion of all else.

Dreamworks succeeds in parts of the movie, but they could have done better. This Sinbad, with all its Greek-tainted ingredients, should be aptly titled Sinbad: Legend of the Greek Mythology. Its power comes not from the spirit of previous Sinbad films but on Dreamworks-generated steam, impressing with style over substance. Despite the PG rating, this is an action flick for kids, those who have kids, and those who are easily entranced by 3-D animation and special effects. For the latter group, I recommend waiting for it on video or DVD, where you can skip the anemic dialogue and lackluster scripting.