The Road to being Forgettable
Tulio and Miguel are two con men who with the aid of some loaded dice manage to get their hands on a map which tells of where El Dorado, the lost City of Gold is. But they can't help but get in and out of trouble which sees them stow away on a ship belonging to Spanish explorer Cortes and eventually on the trail to El Dorado. Having discovered the lost city they not only meet an attractive girl but also have to deal with a scheming priest who wants control of the city for himself.
The worst movies for me as a movie reviewer are not those which are terrible but those which are forgettably ordinary and Disney's "The Road to El Dorado" is one such movie. I hate to say this but it almost feels like when Disney made this they had settled on a formula for their animated movies which included having Elton John provide the soundtrack and because of this and a few other things "The Road to El Dorado" ended up a generic animation which probably amused young eyes but offered little for anyone else especially adults who find themselves having to watch this with their children.
Now if I was being really critical the first major gripe with "The Road to El Dorado" is that they have taken the account of Cortes and torn it to shreds to turn it into a family animation but as always who watches an animation like this looking for historical accuracy. But I have lots of other gripes and unfortunately whilst Kevin Kline and Kenneth Branagh are accomplished actors their voices end up generic when not attached to their looks and that makes Tulio and Miguel generic. In fairness Branagh and Kline were not helped by some uninspired writing which constantly lacks humour. All of which combines to just add to that feel of being generic and it goes for all the other actors voicing characters as it all ends up non-descript.
But here is the thing, if I had an under ten who I wanted to keep amused for 90 minutes whilst I got on with other things then "The Road to El Dorado" would work. It is full of the visual sort of jokes which will amuse younger eyes such as a comically drawn horse. As such whilst "The Road to El Dorado" did nothing for me as an adult I still have to say it works for its target audience.
What this all boils down to is that "The Road to El Dorado" is one of Disney's most forgettable animations with a feel of being formula driven and failing to offer anything for grown ups although plenty for those who are under ten and will enjoy the colourful animations.
