Quest for Camelot (C or 2/4 stars)
'Quest for Camelot' (directed by Frederik Du Chau) provides enjoyable animated entertainment for the kiddies, but it is far from the top echelon of the Disney Renaissance movies a la The Little Mermaid, Beauty & the Beast, Aladdin & The Lion King. It's just a little duller, a bit more uninspired & the animation is not on the level. The story - which departs from the actual Arthurian text - focuses on 2 idealistic teens who set-out on a quest from their remote village to save the Kingdom of Camelot. After her father, Sir Lionel (voiced by Gabriel Bryne), is killed defending King Arthur (Pierce Brosnan), young Kayley (Jessalyn Gilsig) dreams of being a Knight of the Roundtable. She gets her chance when Excalibur, Arthur's legendary sword, is stolen.
Power hungry knight, Sir Ruber (Gary Oldman) - this story's evil villain - wants to supplant Arthur for the throne & control of Camelot. One of his warriors has dropped the sword in the dangerous Forbidden Forest and, When Kayley journeys there to retrieve it - and to save her mother, Lady Juliana (Jane Seymour) who was captured by Ruber's creepy henchmen - she is befriended by Garrett (Cary Elwes), a blind recluse who lives with his seeing-eye, silver-winged falcon, Ayden. Garrett also dreams of being a Knight, and so, together with the help of a humorous two-headed dragon (Don Rickles & Eric Idle), these 2 brave souls aim to thwart Ruber's attack on Camelot. Action ensues.
As mentioned above, just about every component of this production is a bit underwhelming and/or rips off Disney animation elements. Kayley is a heroine straight from the same mold as Ariel & Belle. The two-headed dragon {named Cornwall & Devon}, is exactly like The Lion King's comedic duo of Timon & Pumba, etc. And despite the whole Arthur/Excalibur storyline, the plot here reallllly isn't all that interesting; it's basically a smattering of characters running around, dodging dangers in the Forbidden Forest, & seeking the lost sword.
The 'best' aspect of this film would have to be the handful of uplifting songs written by David Foster & Carol Bayer Sager, and the music score composed by Patrick Doyle. Sure, the songs pad out the run time {to a mere 86 minutes, anyway}; and they sometimes interrupt the flow of the storyline. Some of the songs are competent, some are so-so, but the best one - by far - is "The Prayer", which went on to earn an Academy Award nomination, and is performed in the film by the great Celine Dion. I don't want to be too harsh on 'Quest for Camelot' because it DOES has some artistic merits & young children may very well take to it. But it really is a sub-par disappointment in the wake of those aforementioned Disney classics.
Power hungry knight, Sir Ruber (Gary Oldman) - this story's evil villain - wants to supplant Arthur for the throne & control of Camelot. One of his warriors has dropped the sword in the dangerous Forbidden Forest and, When Kayley journeys there to retrieve it - and to save her mother, Lady Juliana (Jane Seymour) who was captured by Ruber's creepy henchmen - she is befriended by Garrett (Cary Elwes), a blind recluse who lives with his seeing-eye, silver-winged falcon, Ayden. Garrett also dreams of being a Knight, and so, together with the help of a humorous two-headed dragon (Don Rickles & Eric Idle), these 2 brave souls aim to thwart Ruber's attack on Camelot. Action ensues.
As mentioned above, just about every component of this production is a bit underwhelming and/or rips off Disney animation elements. Kayley is a heroine straight from the same mold as Ariel & Belle. The two-headed dragon {named Cornwall & Devon}, is exactly like The Lion King's comedic duo of Timon & Pumba, etc. And despite the whole Arthur/Excalibur storyline, the plot here reallllly isn't all that interesting; it's basically a smattering of characters running around, dodging dangers in the Forbidden Forest, & seeking the lost sword.
The 'best' aspect of this film would have to be the handful of uplifting songs written by David Foster & Carol Bayer Sager, and the music score composed by Patrick Doyle. Sure, the songs pad out the run time {to a mere 86 minutes, anyway}; and they sometimes interrupt the flow of the storyline. Some of the songs are competent, some are so-so, but the best one - by far - is "The Prayer", which went on to earn an Academy Award nomination, and is performed in the film by the great Celine Dion. I don't want to be too harsh on 'Quest for Camelot' because it DOES has some artistic merits & young children may very well take to it. But it really is a sub-par disappointment in the wake of those aforementioned Disney classics.