DreamWorks' latest traditionally-animated movie premieres today. But maybe you haven't heard of it. It's called Sinbad: Legend of the Seven Seas.
The movie seems to be floating under the radar of the general populace, unlike Disney's and Pixar's recently released Finding Nemo. People just don't seem to get jazzed anymore over 2-D animation. It's sad, really, because Sinbad looks amazing in its own right. Better than the plastic look of its CG brothers. that's for darn sure.
But perhaps the stories have a lot to do with why people don't get excited about traditional animation anymore. No, not perhaps, it does. And forgive me, but Sinbad looks boring. Even the title bores me. What's up with the pirate crap anyway? I thought kids stopped being enamored with pirates long ago, much like dressing up as a cowboy for Halloween stopped being cool in 1983.
Listen, I hate to be a son of a bitch. I don't think the movie will be bad. The problem is with the marketing. It just doesn't seem like it's out there as much as it should be. Box-office analysts are predicting that Sinbad will make about $20 million at the end of the five-day weekend. Respectable, sure. But sadly, not on par with its CG counterparts, which would make $20 million in a day.
Sinbad is a story about a thief named Sinbad (voiced by Brad Pitt), who is "the most daring and notorious rogue ever to sail the Seven Seas." He's framed for stealing a priceless and powerful treasure that he must find and return, or his old friend, Proteus, will die. Sinbad is joined by Proteus' fiance, Marina, as they embark on a quest to return the stolen treasure, encountering many daring adventures along the way.
The feature film opens to mixed reviews, with Roger Ebert giving it three and a half stars. Sinbad is "another worthy entry in the recent renaissance of animation, and in the summer that has already given us Finding Nemo, it's a reminder that animation is the most liberating of movie genres," Ebert said. "As we watch it, we are sailing over the edge of the human imagination."
But others weren't so quick to heap praise on Sinbad.
Variety.com called it "a passably entertaining animated entry from DreamWorks that's closer to The Road to El Dorado than to Shrek."
The New York Times railed against DreamWorks' latest: "To invoke the name of another underwhelming new film, Sinbad is legally bland ... Will even children sit still for this movie's abbreviated running time (83 minutes)? The last question will probably be the most suspenseful one about the film."
Ouch. So Sinbad or Singood? Tough to tell. But it looks like this will be another largely forgotten movie, only remembered during arguments citing "proof" that 2-D is outdated.
