I finally sat down to watch this for the first time. Thought it looked like a lame kid's film back in the day. Again I'm not into Di$ney stuff, I am watching this because I like Rourke and Helga's (and a few of the good guys) designs, they're that turn of millennia experimental Di$ney look.
So it couldn't hurt, right? One thing I'll say off the bat is the animation of this film is really fluid and (usually) high quality, the beginning sequences with Atlantis and Thatch are very high tier. I don't know if I forgot the production values of Di$ney animation, but it's excellent. The boat, the sub launch sequence, I'd have been wowed watching this as a kid. I also really liked Atlantis in this, the designs and what little we saw of the civilization/hints of language was interesting.
I know a lil about the 1910s/20s, so seeing the Uncle Sam poster in 1914 was an anachronism that made me laugh out loud (USA didn't enter war with that poster until 1917).
Now getting to Helga, god she's not in it enough, but I like her, though I kind of question her first clothing ensemble, it seems more 1920s, flapper wear to me. One thing I'm getting with this film is they're kind of grabbing 10s/20s aesthetics/ideas, and they might not always fit the year it takes place, 1914. I also expected Helga to sound somewhat German, you wouldn't know she was half German unless you read the dossiers.
Rourke is interesting from the get-go. We see half his face/name obscured on the dossiers, already hinting at him being a shady type of char. Him as the center of attention with the book was a hint at what was to come. TBH his design choices remind me of the masculine, capable silent film heroic leads of the 1910s who contrasted in many ways from the lovers of the 1920s. I never saw information on stylistic inspirations for Rourke, and I assume plenty of inspo was taken from his fantastic VA James Garner.
He's a case of the masculine (military) hero deconstruction; he turns out to be an asshole, but his expressions and a lot of his dialogue and even glimpses of some of what I think is suppressed cowardice (he is a villain!) which he would assert is survival of the fittest, make him unique in his way. Also, I liked the contrast between him and the 'good crew': they warm up to Milo, he starts business friendly and grows to hate him over the course of the story.
Rourke's expressions from the beginning are...interesting. He is very expressive, it seems a silent era nod to me, as I've thought when I first saw his pictures. In fact, every scene with him, eyes are glued to him, wondering what weird expression I'll see next. He is a character you have to watch. Whoever animated him had a fun time. He's one of the more Mignola looking characters.
Knowing what happens with Rourke, this is someone biding his time, ensuring everything is going to work out in his favor. He has a sense of superiority about this hidden information and plans, even in the initial scene he has with Milo imo.
It's clear Rourke is intelligent, certainly conniving, but he's also a mastermind who can see a plan through. He will see them through, no matter the cost.
The second half of the film was also good, I really liked Atlantis, but I think now that I have 15 minutes left and Rourke and Helga are already gone, we could have had more unhinged!Rourke and Helga (should have lived). That's how I know this is still a kid's film - you can't have a guy like Rourke trying to cut down Milo with an axe for more than 30 seconds. Would have liked seeing more of his villain expressions, either way. A line about Kewpie Dolls as one of his final bits of dialogue is a strange choice to me, but it is what it is.
That said, thanks for coming to my TED talk, hope you at least stayed for the caps of Rourke.
I enjoyed watching the film. I'm curious how a live action would play out, who they'd cast, but I doubt it will happen. Some of the visuals probably lend better to animation.
janainaart
jacobvanloon
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