I really like, no love, Walt Disney Studios’ 2001 animated film “Atlantis: The Lost Empire”. It’s got a number of things going for it – Mike Mignola character and vehicle designs, an Indiana Jones meets “20,000 Leagues Under The Sea” inspired plot, and an anamorphic 70MM presentation that makes it one of the nicest looking Disney animated films ever. However, upon release, “Atlantis: The Lost Empire” (I’ll just call it ATLANTIS going forward) was a box-office and critical underperformer.
But in the ensuing years, ATLANTIS has become a bit of a cult favorite, with the good outweighing the bad – a slow but somehow rushed plot, too many one-dimensional characters, and a rushed ending. The re-evaluation has even inspired talk of a possible live-action remake as recently as this year – rumored to potentially star Tom Holland. And I don’t think it’s that big of a leap – although I think Holland starring in the film might be as his role in “Uncharted” has some similarities to ATLANTIS’ Milo Thatch. Like I said, ATLANTIS has its inspiration in live-action films. But some of the things that we would normally take for granted in an animated film are less fully realized here because of the narrative nature of animated films and how they tell stories.
If you haven’t seen it, the plot of the film follows Milo Thatch, a cartographer at the Smithsonian whose father had spent his life searching for Atlantis. When he is asked by a Preston B. Whitmore, a former colleague of his father’s who has also searched for Atlantis to join a search crew as their linguist and translator, Milo agrees. After numerous hurdles, both physical and internal, the crew eventually finds Atlantis, where an ancient race of superhumans lives in an oxygen bubble thousands of miles under the ocean.
Look, I love this film. Tab Murphy is a far more talented screenwriter than I could ever dream to be. So know that I am writing this blog entry strictly as a way for me to think about the film and in no way am I trying to say the film should be corrected this way if and/or when it becomes a live-action feature. But if it does become a live-action film, what steps would help make it a better film than its original incarnation?
ACCELERATING AND SLOWING DOWN THE PLOT
Directors Gary Trousdale and Kirk Wise (“Beauty and The Beast” and “The Hunchback of Notre Dame”) tapped the writer of “Tarzan” Tab Murphy to write the ATLANTIS screenplay. The plot of the film arguably goes too fast and too slow at times. Now one could argue that the film is written sequentially. So what is sequential filmmaking?
If you already know you can skip ahead. But if not, sequential filmmaking is used usually for action films and usually for films that are sequels or part of a franchise. It stands in opposition to three-act structure and has its roots in silent-films, because back then films most films were valued much more on visuals than narrative to bring audiences into theaters. And sequential filmmaking lends a way to maximize visual and physical storytelling. Sequential filmmaking stands in opposition to “three-act” structure which is the kind of filmmaking that we are most accustomed ot in American feature films. This is the structure that places an importance on the character’s journey (or character arc) through plot and that the entire film must be unified by this journey at all times. In a sequentially told film you can journey away from that character development to tell the story of an amazing action or visual sequence which only needs to hold up in and of itself and not necessarily the character.
The reason sequential filmmaking is primarily used for sequels and franchise films is that when you write sequentially, the film’s focus is on great set pieces and not on great character development or character arcs. But it doesn’t matter because those already happened in the origin story. So you take what you know about the character from the previous film with you into the sequel and because you have that knowledge, the film can work on creating amazing action sequences and a plot that leaps from moment to moment and not have to worry about character development. It’s like starting and ending a film in 4th gear instead of using the “three-act structure” which starts in first gear, goes to second, then third, then fourth, then even comes back to first or second again. Instead the film goes wire to wire in fourth gear. Examples are “Indiana Jones and The Temple of Doom”, “Iron Man 2”, “The Dark Knight”, “The Empire Strikes Back” and “Twister”. Some of these (2-3 possibly) are my favorite films of all time. While the reception of these films varies, I think we can all agree that none of them puts character development at a premium. You may argue, TESB does, but it takes a lot of Luke’s journey from “A New Hope” and continues it on the path seen in ANH (this is not a course correction of the character like “Thor Ragnarok”). And characters like Han Solo and Princess Leia and Darth Vader are relatively unchanged from the first film with the exception of new learned knowledge (they love each other and I have a son – respectively) that will not pay off for these characters until “Return of The Jedi”. This works in a sequel (especially the second film of a trilogy) because the film itself is also a LARGER sequence bringing the first and third film and should probably be told entirely in fourth gear.
The problem with ATLANTIS is that it is a sequentially written film telling a story that might be better served using a three act structure. Because it is a sequentially structured film it starts both too early and goes too quickly. Milo’s journey is not fixated on one point but seems to change every 10 minutes (as it often does in films that are sequentially structured). Milo wants to get money to go to Iceland and find the Atlantean journal, then Milo finds out that not only does someone have the journal but they have the means for an exhibition, then Milo has to fit in on the crew, then Milo has to guide the crew, then Milo has to bond with the Atlanteans. We never know really why Milo is doing any of this or where his internal motivation comes from. It seems like Murphy is hinting that it is a bond with his grandfather and that Milo is generally a “good guy”. I buy it but its not the strongest character North Star. And since we have no prequel for this film, we’re left never really knowing who Milo is or what he wants to be. When Milo decides to stay with the Atlanteans at the end of the film, I was as surprised as anyone. And this is all without mentioning that the first 7 minutes of the film do not even involve Milo but the Atlanteans – who we will not see again for 45-50 minutes. But make no mistake, I was never bored in the film. Each sequence worked in and of itself, it was just when the film ended and I took a step back it seemed a bit discombobulated.
One film that mirrors the general plot of ATLANTIS is James Cameron’s “Avatar”. In “Avatar” we see Jake Sully making a similar venture to Milo Thatch, to a foreign planet far away. But the film essentially starts at Atlantis’ mid-point. Now I kind of like some of the things that happen in ATLANTIS before they arrive at Atlantis, but I think we need less of it in the film and it won’t hurt plot or character development at all. Maybe the film does start with Milo Thatch already on board the Ulysses, having been there for months, searching, and he’s starting to lose faith. You can have a few flashbacks to his time at the museum and meeting Preston but as a viewer we meet him as this person on the Ulysses, ingrained with the crew – not the researcher at the Smithsonian. One would eliminate the prologue featuring the sinking of Atlantis entirely and maybe put that in the middle of the film after we find Atlantis with Milo and the crew. Moreover, Milo’s goals of finding Atlantis could also then be more clear and also pay off more once he arrives – simply by knowing he has been on the Ulysses for so long. If we then arrive at Atlantis at the beginning of the second act, we could see Milo’s goal change and character arc form as he realizes that this is not a mission of discovery but a mission of preservation (mirroring “Avatar” again – yes) as that which he wanted to find so badly he now wants to preserve – whereas Commander Rourke and his cronies want to pillage Atlantis for the crystals and the crystal-powered tech. Speaking of…
BUILD A BIGGER WORLD
The world of Atlantis is so cool and has so much to offer – from a visual and a technological standpoint that its difficult to believe that we only get to explore it for a little over 30 minutes of the film. I think one thing the film could use more of is the Atlantean tech. One of the most visually stunning things in this film are what I like to call the “hover-fish” (known in-universe as the Aktriak, the Martak, and the Ketak) – Atlantis-made vehicles that are shaped like fish and look like they are made out of carved stone. They are powered by crystals and presumably controlled by the rider’s brain. While they are used to defeat Commander Root eventually, we barely see them (in the prologue and for a few minutes at the end of the film). If this were a live-action film, once Milo gets to Atlantis I’d want them all over the place in the same way the Direhorses were everywhere in “Avatar”.
Towards the end of the 3rd act large stone MECHS (I’m not kidding) – also powered by crystals – rise up through the ocean to protect Atlantis from the coming tidal wave. It’s an impressive moment and I was thinking WOW what will happen next with these wonderful creations. Here’s what – nothing. They just stand on a bunch of hills and act like a force field and… that’s it. If Disney does a live action ATLANTIS, using the mechs better is requirement #1. I need to know who is controlling them, how are they activated, are they driveable with someone in them or is it a remote controlled vehicle.
In addition, the Atlantean culture overall could be sold in a bigger way throughout the film. Mark Okrand who developed Kligon language for “Star Trek” television and theatrical productions, was hired to devise the Atlantean language and John Emerson devised the actual look of each one of the letters. But all of this work is not given enough shine in the film and deserves so much more. The Atlantean culture appears to be as though-out as any culture in the “Star Trek”, “Star Wars”, or “Avatar” universes.
THE FILM NEEDS TO SELL MILO THATCH AS A CAPABLE HERO
Towards the beginning of the third act, Dr. Joshua Strongbear Sweet (more on him in a bit) asks Milo what are they going to do next. And Milo has his (as it is called in the screenwriting business) “low point” where he admits he has failed on so many things he wonders why he is even there. But the problem with this scene is that I also truly wonder, why was Milo along on this journey. I guess to translate – but if these people were truly ruthless, why even leave this guy alive or why leave him at all? Why not take Milo back with them as I’m guessing they will need him to help “use” Kida after she is kidnapped in her merged crystal-state (more on this later)?
One would think they would leave Milo if he had proved himself enough of a troublemaker to be too big of a headache to tag along but that is far from the case. For Milo to be left behind in Atlantis he needs to have some W’s. You can be a capable linguist and a clever person and still have a few bad decisions or even one bad decision that might forever change your fate. But Milo has so many that it’s tough to get on board with his plan and/or even find his final battle with Rourke believable.
Now Milo does get some assistance from the crew and some lucky breaks to help explain why he wins and Rourke loses, but again – I’m not sure this is really a satisfactory resolution but just one that we expect. By the end of the film, Thatch is still not a capable hero and that is a big problem.
THIN OUT THE CREW
I love the crew of the Ulysses but there comes a point when you’re almost inundated with new characters to the point that its both hard to keep track of them and ultimately it’s hard to decipher who is good and who is bad. When you combine them with the Atlanteans that we meet the cast is just too large. I think a smart thing to do would be to pick six characters from the Ulysses and focus on them. Now you make think this is a large number but here is the Ulysses crew:
- Milo James Thatch,
- Commander Lyle Tiberius Rourke
- Vincenzo “Vinny” Santorini, an Italian demolitions expert.
- Dr. Joshua Strongbear Sweet, a medic of African American and Native American descent
- Lieutenant Helga Katrina Sinclair, Rourke’s German second-in-command and lieutenant.
- Audrey Rocio Ramirez, a teenage Puerto Rican mechanic and the youngest member of the expedition
- Wilhelmina Bertha Packard: an elderly, sarcastic, chain-smoking radio operator
- Jebidiah Allardyce “Cookie” Farnsworth, a Western-style chuckwagon chef
- Gaetan “Mole” Molière, a French geologist who acts like a mole
- Preston B. Whitmore, an eccentric millionaire who funds the expedition to Atlantis.
Now if it were up to me, I’d keep (1.) Milo, (2.) Rourke, (4.) Sweet, (6.) Ramirez, (5.) Sinclair, (6.) Mole and Preston, losing Cookie, Packard, and Vinny. All three have little to do in the film and we can easily give that screen time to another person. But I think we can get it down to six people. If I had to delete one more person it might be Rourke and I would make Sinclair the ultimate villain.
I think Sinclair is one of the most interesting characters in this film. She’s someone who has seen a lot, is incredibly smart but also knows she is beautiful. But we get a sense that she uses that beauty – almost as a weapon – which is really cool and could be even cooler if she was allowed to get out from under Rourke’s shadow. Sinclair has the potential to be a much more capable and interesting villain. Also seeing a female (especially in the early 1900s) be the person who is the oppressor and fighting her ass off for an opportunity would be an interesting turn – especially since we have Ramirez and Kida as strong and equally capable women on the other side of the fight. Also Sinclair being motivated by greed and nationalist opportunity, just before the first world war, would make much more logical sense in terms of motivation than Rourke, whose motivation feels like money and “my character is the villain”. Also Sinclair’s fate in the film is one of the worst – essentially sacrificing herself in a fit of anger that allows Milo to best Rourke feels both hollow and unnecessary for someone who I feel like is one of the more complicated and interesting characters in this film. And this evaluation is not a knock on the film or even the character of Rourke. Rourke as a character feels “been there/done that” today, but I admit that kind of character wasn’t as played out in 2001.
MAKE KIDA A BIGGER PART OF THE FINALE
Kida is a character that really needs to play a bigger part in the film. I think she should still merge with the crystal but it would be awesome to see her emerge after being captured and play a bigger part in the final battle with Sinclair and against the re-activated volcana. In a way, I want her to be more like Captain Marvel in Endgame – Milo needs to do the hard work but he needs to be at his low point in his fight with Sinclair, and then have Kida come in and save his ass just before he loses. I want Milo to be capable but I do not want him to be Kida’s savior – in fact I argue the opposite would be much more interesting as on the final “balance sheet” they would essentially be saving each other.
Also if they get to Atlantis sooner, as I previously argued, we would have more time for Kida and Milo’s love story which is definitely needed. If Milo stays with Kida at the end, we need to see them have a connection and it needs to go beyond “she’s pretty” and “he’ mysteriousl”. It needs to be them each recognizing the other as something they have been searching for their entire lives. Milo has always been looking for Atlantis and Kida is the living embodiment of that. Whereas Kida has always been looking for a way to understand things about her own culture that have been lost to time and disaster and Milo offers that. If you can set up enough scenes where they begin seeing these things in each other through instances of character action and choices, I think it would strengthen the entire film.
OK JUST FOR FUN – LET’S FAN-CAST THIS THING
OK I am going all-in on my idea to combine Rourke and Sinclair into one character and make Sinclair the big-bad of the film in this casting. So the three principals would be Milo, Kida, and Sinclair. I’ve given two options for each.
Milo Thatch/ Andrew Garfield or Aaron Taylor-Johnson
I think Andrew Garfield could really nail the awkwardness of Milo and also hit the action beats. It’s something that he has done before in roles as diverse as Spider-Man and in “Heartbreak Ridge”. Andrew is of course a great actor – and I think he could also sell the intellect of Milo. He could be someone who would fit into that role of the reluctant action hero – only taking to brute force as a last resort, but also effective once he has made that choice.
Aaron Taylor-Johnson could be even better. He may not be as well known as Andrew but he’s such a fantastic actor. He’s someone for whom the audience has almost immediate sympathy – maybe its his eyes – but that quality would be so incredibly helpful for a character like Milo in a film like ATLANTIS. I also think he has a certain openness about him that might play better in the romance with Kida.
Kida/ Jurnee Smollett or Alicia Vikander
I think Jurnee Smollett would also do an amazing job as she has a strength but also a natural way of asserting dominance to others who share the screen with her – without seeming like she is doing this for villainous or evil reasons. She’s just better than the rest of us.
Kida needs to be intelligent, mysterious, strong and yet also sympathetic in her quest to preserve her people. It’s a complicated role and you have to do a lot and I think Sonequa Martin-Greene could do an amazing job in that role. She has proven herself capable of portraying an intelligent calm and otherworldliness in “Star Trek: Discovery” and also a dimensionality beyond the writing and character in “The Walking Dead” and I think she can bring that inner-peace combined with an external fire to the role of Kida that could really be something special. I really think Jurnee would be the perfect Kida.
Alicia is kind of a curve ball here but I think she could be someone who would sell the weird ethereal quality of Kida and blend it with the more grounded princess capabilities. She has proven herself more than capable in the athletic and fighting skills that would be on display in a role like Kida’s. And I also think she is quite funny – and sparks would fly with almost any actor.
Lieutenant Helga Katrina Sinclair/ Charlize Theron or Hayley Bennett
Charlize has essentially played this role before in “Prometheus” and has played the villain before in “Fast 8.” But here she would be playing a “period” villain – more akin to something we saw in cinema far in the past of last century. And I think she could have a lot of fun with that. It would be the female version of the mustache-twirling villain that we’ve seen in “Raiders of The Lost Ark” and “The Rocketeer” and I think Charlize would blow the doors off of that kind of a performance in the same way that
Hayley Bennett is one of my favorite actresses who hasn’t really broken through to the A-List yet but not for a lack of great acting. From films like 2008’s “The Haunting of Molly Hartley” to this year’s “Swallow”, she has shown incredible range in a variety of performances. I love her performance so much in “Girl On The Train” – where she has a darker side that is also sympathetic – and ultimately surprising, and I think that kind of performance would be perfect for this role.
Audrey Rocio Ramirez/ Christina Serratos or Isabella Moner
I’ve been a huge “The Walking Dead” fan for years (as you may have noticed with my Sonequa Martin-Greene casting) and Christina Serratos has been one of my favorite parts of the show for the longest time. She’s beautiful, has a great sense of humor, and can also portray a moral decency that is needed for the character and especially how she will eventually be the crew member that sides with Milo in front of Sinclair and will cause the rest of the crew to desert Sinclair as well.
Isabella Moner was fantastic in Transformers 4 (Yes I said it) and Sicario 2. Both sequels were not exactly popular but Moner was far from the problem. She’s funny, is great at asserting personality in an action sequence, and can trade barbs and quips with the best of them – all important qualities for Ramirez.
Dr. Joshua Strongbear Sweet/ Jordan Peele or Ice Cube
I know I am swinging for the fences here with Jordan. But this would be so cool – it’s a supporting role that would not take much time out of his busy schedule but being the level-headed cool crew member who ultimately acts as a mentor to Milo and is the first person to stand with him against Rourke/Sinclair would be a fun role for Peele that he might do as it is so outside of anything that he might do.
Ice Cube is a legend and I’d love to see him in this kind of role in a Disney film. I think he would make for such a quality addition in terms of chemistry in this large cast. If you had people like Charlize and Jurnee Smollett and Andrew Garfield, he would shine – as he does in a large cast like “Black Monday” and “The Avengers” films.
Gaetan “Mole” Molière/ Jack Black or Seth Rogen
Gotta be Jack Black or Seth Rogen. Accept no substitutes.We need someone who can be funny and jolly – maybe a bit on the bigger size.Mole is the comic relief of the film, but its also important to have his heroic moment when he stands on the side of Milo and this not be seen as an L for Milo. Mole also is really capable as an explorer and someone who could be more helpful if the film played a bit more with how the crew gets in and out of the world of Atlantis.
Preston Whitmore/ Kurt Russell or John Cusack
I do think this role could go to a kind of interesting stunt-cast, maybe someone who has some kind of Disney legacy as a way to bridge the generations of 80s Disney live action films like Black Hole and Tron with this generation’s entry. Because of that, I would pick Kurt Russell. It would be great to see him back in the Disney fold – but not in the MCU – in a real Disney film like he was at one time. And if you haven’t watched The Computer Wore Tennis Shoes starring Mr. Russell, I highly recommend it.
John Cusack was in a few 80s and 90s Disney films (notably “The Journey of Natty Gann). And I think his presence would add just enough nostalgia without being distracting but he’s also a name and a great actor and it would be interesting to see him in this kind of a role. Preston is someone whose motivation must be unclear – is he a benefactor or a manipulator – or a little of both? I think Cusack would be perfect for this.
I love Atlantis and I really hope that at some point in the future, Disney decides to give it a live-action remake. It’s not a fairy-tale and it’s not a typical princess film. But it is the kind of film that can be a wonderful action movie that can harken back to Disney films like “The Black Hole” and “20,000 Leagues Under The Sea” that might actually be better served by a live-action remake than some of these fairy tales that are currently being remade.
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