Kevin Kline and Kenneth Branagh provide voices in The Road to El Dorado |
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The Road to El Dorado ( )is the latest attempt by DreamWorks to muscle in on the animation market currently cornered by Disney. Two Spanish con men - Tulio (voiced by Kevin Kline) and Miguel (Kenneth Branagh) - win a map purporting to show the location of El Dorado, the legendary "lost city of gold." Drawn by the allure of untold riches, they follow the map and are surprised to discover there really is a city. Their plot to steal the gold is complicated by the fact that the con men are mistaken for gods by the local tribespeople. Also, a young woman named Chel (Rosie Perez) has a plan of her own to steal some gold. The Road to El Dorado is visually beautiful, combining traditional hand-drawn animation with computer animation. It's state-of-the-art, which will surely delight fans of the genre. The story is rather thin, and the characters are not as well developed as those in Disney movies. However, this is certainly one of the funniest animated features I've seen in a long time. Kline and Branagh bring a lot of humor to the voice work, milking every single joke from the witty script. There's probably enough slapstick to amuse most children, but most of the gags are aimed at adults. Imagine an old Bob Hope/Bing Crosby road comedy done with animation and you'll get the point. I laughed out loud many times during the film, and I loved how good-looking it was. On that basis, I recommend The Road to El Dorado.
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