THE ROAD TO EL DORADO (2000) ** In which we are familiarized with the white man's burden of being treated like gods by the Aztecs (I think they're Aztecs, but wasn't El Dorado supposed to be in South America?). Oh, it was difficult, sitting there on the throne, bobbing about on the subterranean political tides. They weren't there to lie and steal the gold, you understand, they were adventurers who got a break by pretending to be deities. Oh, ok, that's all right, then. So the filmmakers didn't give Western kids enough credit to be able to identify with children (or adults) from another culture, so the scalawags are the heroes and we're supposed to desperately cheer them on as they make off with the treasure. If you can get past all that it's a reasonably entertaining film, not entirely bereft of charm (Kevin Kline's much better when you can't actually see him, and Kenneth Branagh manages not to sound stuffy), but neither possessed of pathos nor educational or original. They do distinguish the "heroes" from the Spanish Inquisitors, which is better than not doing so, I guess, and doesn't disturb a reality threshold that was much of a virtue in the first place.
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