Sinbad: Legend of the Seven Seas

The most fearless bandit on the seven seas, Sinbad (Pitt) has caught the attention of the goddess Eris (Pfeiffer). Seeing him as self-centred, greedy rouge that only ever thinks of what's in it for him, she decides to embroil Sinbad in her latest plan to plunge the world into chaos. Stealing the mystical Book of Peace and framing Sinbad for the crime, Eris puts her plan into motion. The reluctant hero now has to travel to the edge of the world to Tararus, Eris's domain to clear his name and save his friend Proteus (Fiennes) from execution.

DreamWorks has one last valiant attempt to inject some life into the traditional 2D animated movie but even Sinbad doesn't have the power to stop the march of fully computer-generated animation.

This doesn't mean that this is a bad movie, in fact it is far from it. This is good family entertainment that successfully combines 2D and 3D techniques to great effect. The action sequences are superb, the characters are well rounded and enjoyable and it's full of adventure.

Brad Pitt, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Dennis Haysbert, Joseph Fiennes and especially Michelle Pfeiffer do an excellent job bringing there characters to life with some exceptional vocal performances. Pfeiffer excels as Eris, sounding like she really enjoyed the challenge and Brad Pitt brings a certain, but slightly too American, coolness to our hero Sinbad.

What his movie lacks, along with many other 2D animated movies, is a solid story. While the overall plot is fine, many of the supporting characters are not fleshed out enough and the Sinbad/Marina love story is a tad too convenient. All of the Pixar movies and DreamWorks own Shrek all have great stories that are filled to the brim with great characters large and small. Sinbad has only the hero himself and Eris, while the rest are seriously underdeveloped.

This aside, Sinbad: Legend of the Seven Seas is still a lot of fun and a great family movie. It is worth going to see of the action sequences alone and it will keep the kids smiling and the adults entertained. Set sail.

Audio commentary from directors Patrick Gilmore & Tim Johnson and other filmmakers, 'Cyclops Island': an interactive adventure featuring a choice of one of five characters, 'The Making Of Sinbad' featurette, 'Spike's Voice': a featurette on the voice of Spike by Harvey the Bulldog, Art gallery, Set-top games: 'Save The 12 Cities', 'Sinbad's Sailing Adventure' and '3D Tour Of The Chimera', DVD-Rom features: interactive content and printable games, 'Cat In The Hat' teaser trailer, Interactive menu & Scene access

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2003