SINBAD: LEGEND OF THE SEVEN SEAS (2003)

 

PHENOMENALITY: *marvelous*
MYTHICITY: *poor*
FRYEAN MYTHOS: *adventure*
CAMPBELLIAN FUNCTIONS: *metaphysical, psychological*

Dreamworks has made a few really strong animated films and a lot of average works, but SINBAD: LEGEND OF THE SEVEN SEAS must be their most schizophrenic. On one hand, Brad Pitt purportedly wanted to do a cartoon-film that his younger relatives could watch, and there's a lot of stuff in SINBAD aimed at a juvenile crowd. On the other hand, writer John Logan stated that his first draft script was "very complex, the relationships were very adult. It was too intense in terms of the drama for the audience that this movie was aimed at." I assume Logan tried to modify that draft to make it more kid-friendly, but he only did so by compromising the characters.

The overarching threat in SINBAD stems from the goddess Eris (voiced by Michelle Pfeiffer and named for an obscure Greek deity). She wants to foment war by depriving the city of  Syracuse of its cherished talisman, "the Book of Peace," though I was never clear as to what power this tome possessed. As for motive, well, Eris just likes messing with mortals. This sounds like this capriciousness might make Eris seem more formidable, but in fact it allows Logan to make her as inconsistent as he pleases.

Sinbad (Pitt) is one of those jaunty pirates who never kills anyone, and he somehow learns that the Book is on its way to Syracuse from some other place. He decides to have his crew intercept the ship and steal the Book for ransom. The pirates successfully waylay the transport vessel (again, without killing anyone), but there's a catch: one of the guardians of the Book is Sinbad's former friend Proteus, Prince of Syracuse. Proteus tries to persuade Sinbad to give up his evil ways, but Sinbad isn't having it. A sea monster attacks the pirate ship, and Proteus' vessel escapes with the Book while Sinbad falls into the drink. He's saved from death by Eris, who wants Sinbad to go to Syracuse and steal the Book for her, for the aforesaid vague reasons.

Sinbad does go to Syracuse but when he beholds Proteus's fiancee Marina (Catherine Zeta-Jones), he loses his resolve and leaves. Annoyed, Eris does the deed disguised as the pirate, framing him for the crime. Proteus believes Sinbad's claim of innocence, but no one else does. In order for Sinbad to regain the missing tome, Proteus swears to stand in for the accused, suffering execution if Sinbad does not return. Marina forces her way on board Sinbad's ship, ostensibly to protect Proteus but maybe more to learn more of the roguish buccaneer. Sinbad, Marina and the unremarkable crewmen then brave assorted hazards from Eris until reaching a fairly contrived climax.

SINBAD is very formulaic, but boasts one very strong action-sequence, when Eris sends mesmerizing Sirens to incapacitate the male pirates. Marina hears the siren-song but she doesn't swing that way, so she manages to save the ship from destruction. But most of the rest of the film is pedestrian.

The character of Sinbad comes unraveled when he reveals to Marina the reason he broke off his years-old friendship with Proteus and turned pirate. It happened when he saw Marina come to Syracuse ten years earlier, which is when Marina became loosely engaged to Proteus (though they're still not even officially a couple ten years later). Sinbad fell for Marina and then simply left Syracuse-- a ridiculous motive that even an older child would see through. 

I don't know what "adult" story Logan might have had in mind. But one possible scenario might be that Sinbad and Marina actually had some affair without Proteus' knowledge, and that Sinbad left over the shame of betraying a friend. In any case, the film wants to have things both ways: Sinbad is an unscrupulous rogue, but he's also a sentimental softie at heart. Even in scenes that don't involve Marina, his character is even more changeable than that of the chaos-goddess. And so the movie has no real heart, and is only slightly diverting at best.