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13 of 15 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Top-Notch Family Entertainment, July 2, 2003
The name of Sinbad is as well known as the likes of Jason and the Argonauts, The Oddessy, and the Arabian Nights when in comes to heroic sea voyages and trickster thieves, and he has been made into several movies and television shows (most of which weren't particularly good). Gradually the name of Sinbad became stale, unfortunate for one of the few Persian/Middle Eastern heroes known to modern Western civilisation. But now Dreamworks pictures reinvents and breathes new life into the legend with "Sinbad: Legend of the Seven Seas" in a fresh new story and amazing animation.Sinbad the sailor, captain and thief is about to begin his last robbery: steal the Book of Peace and retire to Fiji, but during the mission two vital things stop him. One is a run-in with his old best friend Prince Proteus, who demands that the book (on its way to his kingdom Syracuse) be left in his charge, the other is an attack from a vicious sea serpent sent from the goddess of chaos, Eris, who is also after the book. By saving Sinbad's life, Eris cuts him a deal: Sinbad must steal the book, bringing chaos to the seven seas, and she will reward him with plenty of riches. But Sinbad's having second thoughts, especially when he is introduced to Proteus' beautiful fiancee, the Ambassador Marina. So Eris takes things into her own hands, stealing the book and framing Sinbad. Now sentenced to death, Sinbad is horrified when Proteus steps up to take his place under the executioner's axe if Sinbad cannot return the Book of Peace within ten days. Grappling with his own desire to simply make a dash to Fiji, Sinbad reluctantly heads off, with an unwelcome stowaway aboard - Marina, who's there to make sure the job is done. Needless to say, conflict (and a certain degree of flirtation) begins between the two. It is the voyage itself that is the centrepiece of the movie: the ship travels under glorious sunsets, night skies full of stars, through ghostly shipwrecks where watery Sirens sing their luring songs, across an island that is more than what it seems, through ancient ruins encapsulated in ice and snow, and finally to the edge of the world, and Tartarus that lies beyond: a place where forever moving sands rise up and sink down to reveal the structures hidden beneath... All scenes are exquisitely rendered, and computer effects meld perfectly with hand-drawn figures. The artistry itself is reason enough to go and see. Voice talents are well-cast, with Brad Pitt as Sinbad and Catherine Zeta-Jones as Marina leading the charge as our two main heroes. The animation is quite similar to previous Dreamworks productions such as "The Road to El Dorado" and "The Prince of Eygpt", so it seems only fitting that two voice talents from the latter should be involved here - Joseph Fiennes as Proteus, and Michelle Pfeiffer as Eris. It is this goddess of Discord that really steals the show, and the animation done to create her is incredible - she curls and twines around in the air, she dissipates and reforms from black smoke, and Michelle Pfeiffer brings such a cat-like, almost purring sound to her voice that she is amazing to watch. It's always interesting to see how figures like the gods are brought to life in movies, and "Sinbad" imagined and created her perfectly. Though the story is predominantly centred around Syracuse and the main nemesis is a Greek goddess, the melding all several old cultures actually didn't bother me that much - the movie successfully combines Grecian, Oriental, and Middle Eastern components into the look and feel of the movie, which I suppose in those days of sailing and trade, was not such an extrodinary thing. The creators have made a widespread, colourful tapestry of ancient cities and different ethnic flavours, and it works well. The action sequences are energetic and fast, with camera angles moving at 360 degrees in order to push the viewer into the action, whether it be swordfighting, swinging from the rigging of the ship or facing off yet another terrifying monster. Its pefectly kid-friendly, with a couple of adult jokes that should be way over their heads (pickle and eggs, anyone?) but with enough action and excitement to keep them seated throughout the running time. The final romance was a little abrupt, and I disliked the modern day language of some parts ("I'm bad. *Sin*bad." and "You're cute. But not that cute.") but those would be my only real complaints. Basically, this is a great family movie that all should enjoy whether child or adult.
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