Atlantis: The Lost Empire
Buena Vista Pictures | Release Date: June 8, 2001 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
52
METASCORE
Mixed or average reviews based on 29 Critic Reviews
Positive:
12
Mixed:
13
Negative:
4
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
90
New Times (L.A.)Gregory Weinkauf
A thrilling tale smartly told, with an abundance of wit and invention. It's a classic. Read full review
88
Chicago Sun-TimesRoger Ebert
Rousing in an old pulp science fiction sort of way, but the climactic scene transcends the rest, and stands by itself as one of the great animated action sequences. Read full review
80
Mr. ShowbizCody Clark
A wide-eyed, action-adventure throwback to the era of Disney's magnificent adaptation of "20,000 Leagues Under the Sea."
80
The New York TimesA.O. Scott
A monumental treat as well as a crafty assemblage of mythologies. Read full review
75
San Francisco ChronicleWesley Morris
The emphasis here is less on cuteness and romance and more on the "Raiders of the Lost Ark"-style adventure. Read full review
75
Baltimore SunMichael Sragow
Enough flair and conviction to keep the movie buoyant even when its plot is abrupt and its emotionality conventional.
75
Chicago TribuneMark Caro
A well-told, vividly imagined movie that doesn't pretend to be more than it is and doesn't lean on pop-culture references to win over its viewers. Read full review
75
Miami HeraldChristine Dolen
A crackling good adventure, a visually sumptuous effort.
70
TV Guide MagazineFrank Lovece
The character designs, however, are much less impressive. Except for the oddly naturalistic Sinclair, the rest look like cartoony characters from one of Disney's '60s films. Read full review
63
Boston GlobeJay Carr
For all its handsomeness, the movie reveals a few cobwebs beginning to gather at the conceptual edges of the Disney animations.
63
Philadelphia InquirerDesmond Ryan
Unfortunately for Disney, the real obstacle confronting the submarine isn't the giant lobster. It's a foul-smelling ogre, and it's no contest.
63
New York PostLou Lumenick
Disney's disappointing Atlantis, sadly, is a lot like much of the studio's recent animated output: eye-popping visuals and great vocal characterizations sunk by a dead-in-the-water script. Read full review
60
Los Angeles TimesKenneth Turan
Story line and characterization are decidedly old-fashioned, and a curious decision about production design gives this wide-screen cartoon some of the look and feel of a Saturday morning TV cartoon series Read full review
60
Chicago ReaderLisa Alspector
Visually imaginative and even persuasively spiritual. Read full review
58
Entertainment WeeklyOwen Gleiberman
Has my eye, seduced by the devious and tactile delights of ''Shrek,'' already evolved in tandem with the technological leaps in computer animation? Or is Atlantis simply a Disney dud? Read full review
58
Seattle Post-IntelligencerSean Axmaker
Grand and imaginatively designed epic that forgets that the spectacle -- and this is nothing if not spectacular -- is just the flourish. Read full review
50
New York Daily NewsJami Bernard
The idea that every animated feature from Disney is an instant classic officially springs a leak with the noisily disappointing Atlantis: The Lost Empire. Read full review
50
Austin ChronicleMarrit Ingman
The eye candy can't quite compensate for the murky mess of a plot. Read full review
50
L.A. WeeklyElla Taylor
Has the comfortable, old-fashioned, earnest idealism of a '50s Disney action-adventure. Read full review
50
Wall Street JournalJoe Morgenstern
Qualifies as a pleasant time-killer, but it's 20,000 leagues beneath what it might have been.
50
USA TodaySusan Wloszczyna
What Atlantis gains in chills and thrills, it loses in pure emotion. Read full review
50
Portland OregonianStaff (Not credited)
A tedious let-down that will bore adults and only mildly amuse children. Read full review
40
Film.comSean Means
A fireworks show with plenty of "oohs" but not a lot of "aah" -- the story is needlessly convoluted in places and storybook-simple in others, and the characters never make the leap from drawn figures to flesh-and-blood people. Read full review
40
Washington PostDesson Thomson
For the most part, the movie's a bland disappointment, on many levels. Read full review
40
VarietyTodd McCarthy
Recycles familiar adventure and cartoon devices with minimal wit and flair, and the lack of imagination will seem all the more dramatic to audiences in comparison to the winningly sophisticated "Shrek." Read full review
38
Charlotte ObserverLawrence Toppman
A frantic, heartless hodgepodge of pieces from James Bond movies, Indiana Jones adventures, "Star Wars" and half a dozen legends. Read full review
30
Washington PostRita Kempley
The result is cutesy but harsh, a hybrid of saucer-eyed anime and square-jawed angularity that brings to mind an edgier "Pokemon." Read full review
30
Village VoiceEd Park
The bulk of the Atlantis scenes in situ are as involving as a chakra workshop. Read full review
20
SalonStephanie Zacharek
Doesn't seem geared to kids at all: It's so adult that it's massively boring. Read full review
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