The road to El dorado

So, because I’d seen the name somewhere and hadn’t watched it, I decided to watch the road to El Dorado tonight.

Say what you will, but this film has cemented itself a place in at least my personal top 10 films of all time.

Firstly, the animation and the music… every frame absolutely glows with detail, the characters feel responsive and active in their world, and the sounds of the forest and the city and the soundtrack of Zimmer and Powell is beautiful.

I feel like it also conveys a lot of really interesting themes, too. First and foremost, friendship, and the testing of friendship when goals are different and interests are vested. Miguel and Tulio are essentially best mates at the start of the film, and then have their friendship tested.

Also, the struggle over political power. Upon the arrival on Miguel and Tulio, both Tannabok and Tzekel-Kan attempt to utilise this as to push their individual agenda. I would have rather seen more motive from the both of them as to why they wanted what they wanted, but nevertheless, it was a very cool portrayal of the power dynamic between people with a lot of power in a society. By the end of the film, Tzekel-Kan is seen as ‘evil’, however I do believe that both were only using Miguel and Tulio to forward their own plans.

Even more, the slyness. Miguel, Tulio and Chel are all very cunning con artists, and I love the improvisation, the tricking, and all the laughs that come out of it, but also the cool thing of having someone not inherently likeable as the protagonist, which introduces some moral dilemma, which makes the film even more enjoyable.

And finally, I think the framing of big, big historical topics is actually ok. In the end of the movie, the imperialists and Tzekel-Kan are seen as equal evils, if not the imperialists more, they are seen as a threat to this beautiful society. and god was I scared as I saw the sequence of the army advancing on El Dorado.

Overall, I absolutely loved this movie and every detail of it.

What’s your thoughts on it?