The Movie Guys: ‘Road to El Dorado’ leads nowhere

Friday, March 31, 2000 | 9:08 a.m.

The Movie Guys, starring Jeff Howard and Dave Neil, appears Fridays in the Sun. They can also be seen on the 11 a.m. Friday newscast on KVVU Channel 5. Plus, check them outonline at lasvegassun.com/sun/sunlife/ movies and themovieguys.com.

Grades: Jeff D, Dave C-.

Starring: Voices of Kevin Kline, Kenneth Branagh, Rosie Perez, Armand Assante, Edward James Olmos.

Screenplay: Ted Elliott, Terry Rossio.

Director: Eric Bibo Bergeron, Don Paul.

Rated: PG for thematic material, brief nudity and adult language.

Running time: 89 minutes.

Playing at: UA Rainbow Promenade 10, UA Green Valley Cinemas, UA Showcase 8, UA Century Orleans, Regal Cinemas Boulder Station, Regal Cinemas Colonnade 14, Regal Cinemas Texas Station 18, Regal Cinemas Village Square 18, Las Vegas Drive-in.

Synopsis: Tulio and Miguel are a pair of two-bit con men who believe they have found their path to fortune and glory when they win a map to El Dorado, the legendary City of Gold. Their adventure leads them across the seas to the mysterious Latin American land where they are pronounced as the native gods by a high priest looking to overpower the tribe's chief. But with the Spanish explorers making their way to El Dorado, time is running out as Tulio and Miguel fulfill their dreams of gold and leave the very fate of El Dorado hanging in the balance.

Dave: After DreamWorks SKG introduced its first animated feature two years ago with the biblical epic "The Prince of Egypt," Hollywood and the world of animation had rightfully gotten their first taste of true competition. With that in mind, it came to me as a great shock that instead of following its success, DreamWorks took a step backward and tripped. "The Road to El Dorado" follows 16th-century con men Tulio and Miguel (delightfully voiced by Kevin Kline and Kenneth Branagh), whose hasty introduction seems too quick and forced. They are busy rolling loaded dice, looking to swindle a group of brutes who bet a map to the legendary City of Gold known as El Dorado.

Jeff: Then the story is jump-started and dropped abruptly in our laps as they win the map that will lead them to the riches within the lost city of El Dorado. What ensues is a dreadful forgery of Bob Hope and Bing Crosby's successful road pictures, and oh, what a painfully laborious trip to El Dorado it is. The animation is grand and is a sight to behold, but the characters and the story are clearly two-dimensional, jumbled, and at worst, incomprehensible. Parts of the film's story arc seem to be missing and we skip and rush through most of the 89 minutes. Most of the plot holes are covered up by musical numbers and montages that seemed to be dropped in, solely to eat up running time.

The film reunites the Oscar-winning team from "The Lion King" in songwriters Elton John and Tim Rice and composer Hans Zimmer. The songs are show-stoppers in their own right, but are used as filler instead of moving the (absent) story forward.

Dave: After our heroes escape the clutches of the Spanish explorer Cortes, along with the help of a clever war horse named Altivo, they venture to El Dorado, where they encounter more than they had expected. The High Priest Tzekel-Kan (a villainous Armand Assante) declares the two to be gods, plotting to use their fortuitous arrival to take over power from the peaceful chief (Edward James Olmos). His plight, however, is never quite understood, nor is Tulio's and Miguel's change of priorities as they spend cultural time in El Dorado.

Miguel begins to find tranquility among the people in the village, while Tulio falls in love with a sassy beautiful native woman (an annoying supportive character voiced by an equally annoying Rosie Perez). Furthermore, what appears to be the setup for a huge battle between the Spanish explorers looking to take El Dorado's riches from the brave natives ends on a wet and disastrous note.

There is no questioning the quality in the animation behind the film, and the camaraderie and chemistry between Kline and Branagh is sincerely splendid. I'd rather see the two interact live in an actual buddy film; then their true talents would surely shine. Only time will tell if Disney can capitalize on Katzenberg's Latin-flavored misstep when the popular mouse house will release "The Emperor's New Groove," reaching theaters late this year.

However, I'm not holding my breath.

Jeff: You're so right, Dave. Tulio and Miguel fall into a refurbished version of "The Man Who Would Be King" and spout such contemporary dialogue that their 16th-century setting seems out of place and most of the jokes fall flat. The climax of the film comes unexpectedly in the middle with the wimpy Tzekel-Kan summoning a giant stone jaguar to life to smash the undynamic duo, but unused is the real villain, the ominous conquistador Cortes. With such a satisfying buildup to his invasion of El Dorado, your anticipation of his attack is so desired, but in this politically correct world, the invaders' trip is wasted and they turn back at the very end.

I guess we can't have the conquerors slaying the peaceful folk of El Dorado and history is, once again, polished and rewritten. The filmmakers didn't hold back, however, with the sexually charged and animated character of Chel, whose flimsy and revealing outfit left nothing to the imagination. File that in the "What were they thinking?" category.

The "Road to El Dorado" is riddled with plot holes along its winding path, so take a detour to your local video store and rent "The Prince of Egypt" instead.