Sail to See ‘Sinbad’

For several years, DreamWorks Pictures has attempted to combat Disney’s domination of cinematic animation. Although the relevance of traditional hand-drawn animation is quickly diminishing in favor of computer-generation, audiences always hold a special place in their hearts for tradition. “Sinbad: Legend of the Seven Seas” won’t sway anyone away from “Shrek” or “Finding Nemo,” but it will remind of the magic that traditional animation can hold.

Of course, if you merely read the plot, you would mistake it for another Disney-animated, romantic comedy. The notorious thief Sinbad (voice by Brad Pitt) has been charged and sentenced to death for the theft of a sacred relic called The Book of Peace, but he’s actually been framed by Eris (Michelle Pfeiffer), the Goddess of Discord. His old childhood friend, Prince Proteus of Syracuse (Joseph Feinnes) has offered the rule of substitution in his place, and will be put to death in 10 days if Sinbad does not travel out to sea and return with the Book. To make sure he stays on task, Sinbad is accompanied by Proteus’s fiancée, Marina (Catherine Zeta-Jones) who begins to fall for the rugged sailor.

Yet there’s so much more to it. The advantage that “Sinbad” has, among many of DreamWorks’ animated pictures, is that much like Republic-serial movies of the past, it has a real sense of grandeur, and a feeling of adventure, something you rarely see in the movies anymore. The ship’s crew sees so many adventures that often half the excitement comes from keeping up with the movie’s joyfully breakneck pace. The animation is fairly on a par with what you’d expect from a cinematic effort, although the occasional mix of computer animation with the hand-drawn animation is awkward and takes a few scenes to get used to.

However, compared to DreamWorks’ previous animated film, the purely delightful “The Road to El Dorado,” there is a considerable amount of energy lacking from “Sinbad.” “Road” knew that it needed to set up its story before progressing; “Sinbad” assumes that you already know its character and throws you in the middle of the action, in a story that could have benefited from better character development.

“Sinbad” is a relatively modest film amongst a summer of gigantic blockbusters, and I hope that this review serves as enough praise for the underdog film to bring more people into the theatre. While Sinbad may not be impressive on a grand scale, it holds enough interest—for kids and adults—to make it a perfect family film.