Sinbad: Legend of the Seven Seas
DreamWorks Distribution | Release Date: July 2, 2003 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
48
METASCORE
Mixed or average reviews based on 33 Critic Reviews
Positive:
9
Mixed:
21
Negative:
3
Watch Now
Stream On
Stream On
Buy on
Stream On
Expand

Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
90
The Hollywood ReporterKirk Honeycutt
The hundreds of animation artists on this three-year project made enormous contributions to the final film. There is not an off-kilter moment nor awkward effect in the entire movie. Read full review
88
Chicago Sun-TimesRoger Ebert
That it works is because of the high-energy animation, some genuinely beautiful visual concepts and a story that's a little more sensuous than we expect in animation. Read full review
80
L.A. WeeklyElla Taylor
Ray Harryhausen's original stop-motion Sinbad classics are a hard act to follow, but Tim Johnson and Patrick Gilmore's update, couched in a gorgeous palette of indigo and dark rose, is a big, beautiful thrill all its own. Read full review
63
ReelViewsJames Berardinelli
The voices were chosen more for their big name appeal than for their ability to bring life to the drawings. The storyline is flat, linear, and shallow. Read full review
63
Chicago TribuneMark Caro
Neither sinful nor particularly bad, the movie nonetheless diverts us when it should transport us. Its heroes' hearts may lie out at sea, but its soul never leaves dry land. Read full review
63
Philadelphia InquirerCarrie Rickey
An uneasy mix of hand-painted characters and digitally rendered photorealistic backgrounds, the film never fully reconciles its two-dimensional and three-dimensional worlds. Read full review
63
Boston GlobeTy Burr
Brad Pitt and Michelle Pfeiffer? Great to look at. Astonishingly dull to listen to. Read full review
63
USA TodayClaudia Puig
Good but not legendary. Read full review
63
Miami HeraldChristine Dolen
Isn't much more than the tale of a ''bad'' guy getting in touch with his good side, as well as a love story that makes monster-loving little boys go ''yuck!'' And that's what's too bad about Sinbad. Read full review
60
Chicago ReaderBill Stamets
The heaving computer-generated sea swells doesn't match the conventionally animated characters. The action scenes are too antic, but directors Tim Johnson and Patrick Gilmore serve up a sweet romantic subplot. Read full review
60
The A.V. ClubTasha Robinson
Given the talent on display in Sinbad, and the winning brio it dredges out of questionable material, it's easy to wonder what Dreamworks' animation department could accomplish if it stopped following Disney's lead and started forging new paths of its own. Read full review
60
Village VoiceEd Park
Adept and generally enjoyable. Read full review
50
New York PostJonathan Foreman
It makes not just the "Thief of Baghdad" and the junky Ray Harryhausen movies of the '60s and '70s but even Disney's recent "Aladdin" seem positively multicultural by comparison. Read full review
50
Washington PostStephen Hunter
A movie carefully engineered for an audience of exactly nobody. Read full review
50
Los Angeles TimesKenneth Turan
A pleasure to look at. It's filled with fine, imaginative moves and an overarching sense of visual freedom, a feeling of play that entices us into enjoyment. But, when it comes to dialogue and story, this Sinbad apparently used up all its initiative changing its hero's ethnicity to generic Greco-Roman. Read full review
50
Entertainment WeeklyLisa Schwarzbaum
This voyage is strictly one for the disposable present, however quaintly old-fashioned the hand-drawn work that the animators have blended with 3D effects. (Tots will twitch during the grown-up relationship parts, and teens will groan at the kiddie sops.) Read full review
50
Charlotte ObserverLawrence Toppman
Logan's so carried away by computerized magic that he forgets to make sense. Read full review
50
NewsweekDavid Ansen
Comes off as surprisingly unmagical, with characters you only half care about. Read full review
50
VarietyTodd McCarthy
In its animated work, DreamWorks has repeatedly flip-flopped between the hip and the square. This time out, it's as if the company tried to apply a hip approach to a square subject, with unresolved results. Read full review
50
San Francisco ChronicleC.W. Nevius
Predictable. Read full review
50
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)Ray Conlogue
Sinbad lacks, alas, the sparkle and inventiveness of the stories that inspired it. Read full review
50
Christian Science MonitorDavid Sterritt
The story may be too slow and complicated for the youngest moviegoers. Read full review
50
Dallas ObserverRobert Wilonsky
All Sinbad has going for it is Pfeiffer's Eris. Read full review
50
The New York TimesA.O. Scott
To invoke the name of another underwhelming new film, Sinbad is legally bland. Read full review
50
Portland OregonianShawn Levy
As two-dimensional animation, Sinbad is passably attractive, reaching a visual height when it arrives in the surreal, shifting Tartarus. Read full review
50
Seattle Post-IntelligencerSean Axmaker
The ploddingly literal screenplay by John Logan doesn't help matters. Read full review
40
Washington PostDesson Thomson
A respectable effort that doesn't care to do more than course smoothly and effortlessly through familiar waters. Read full review
40
TV Guide MagazineAngel Cohn
The characters are mostly flat and unoriginal -- - but Pfeiffer delivers a wonderfully villainous voice performance. Read full review
40
Austin ChronicleMarc Savlov
Feels like the little animated adventure nobody loved. Read full review
40
New York Magazine (Vulture)Peter Rainer
People who see Sinbad for its star power--a big selling point in the movie’s marketing campaign--are being oversold. Read full review
38
New York Daily NewsJami Bernard
All the magic at the disposal of today's filmmakers cannot bring to life this unappealing animated children's movie. Read full review
30
Wall Street JournalJoe Morgenstern
What's missing is an emotional center. This Sinbad, with its flying ship and becalmed script, seems destined to be DreamWorks's version of Disney's "Treasure Planet."
25
Baltimore SunChris Kaltenbach
A misfire in almost every direction. Read full review
More From This Movie

48 Critic Reviews

6.7 User Reviews

Details & Credits|Trailers

Current Movie Releases
By MetascoreBy User Score
1 77 Project Hail Mary
2 75 Send Help
3 73 Hoppers
4 72 The Sheep Detectives
5 68 Crime 101
SEE ALL
Essential Links
New on Amazon Prime Video
New on Netflix
Coming Soon to DVD/Blu-ray
SEE ALL